Feast of St. Nicholas, December 6th

Feast of St. Nicholas, December 6th

“Almighty God, in your love, you gave your servant Nicholas of Myra a perpetual name for deeds of kindness both on land and sea: Grant, we pray that your Church may never cease to work for the happiness of children, the safety of sailors, the relief of the poor, and the help of those tossed by tempests of doubt or grief; through Jesus Christ our Lord, who lives and reigns with you and the Holy Spirit, one God, forever and ever. Amen.”— Lesser Feasts and Fasts (Church Publishing, 2006), p. 97. 

If you have been reading this blog for several years, you have heard about St. Nikolas on his feast day on the sixth of December. I apologize right now because you will hear about him again. I am powerless when it comes to St. Nikolas.  He has simply been a significant figure in our lives. You might say we developed an addiction to St. Nikolas in December! 

We know very little of the life of Nicholas, Bishop of Myra, who lived in Asia Minor around 342. He is the patron of seafarers, sailors, and, more significantly, children. As a bearer of gifts to children, Dutch colonists in New York brought him to America, where he soon became known as Santa Claus.

When our grandchildren were young, we celebrated St. Nicholas’s feast day as a significant holiday. First, we had a big family meal together. My husband dressed as Bishop Nicholas with a beard, miter, crozier, and long red stole, and came to visit our grandchildren after dinner. He spoke Greek to the children and the adults. Speaking Greek is my husband’s favorite pastime, and of course, you know Nikolas was Greek. Then our grandchildren went into the bedrooms and left their shoes outside the doors, and Bishop Nicholas left chocolate coins and presents in their shoes. I won’t bore you with our pictures of this family event, but they are stunning.

Why am I sharing our family story with you? I remember so many years on this feast day, as I would sit and watch this pageant. I am still filled with tremendous gratitude, as my recovery date is close to St. Nicholas’s feast day. Each year, I know that if someone had not led me to a recovery program, I would never have been alive for these special events.  I would not have witnessed this tremendous blessing: watching our children and grandchildren gleefully giggle as they try to respond to a beautiful older man with a fake beard speaking Greek and secretly slipping candy into their shoes. So, it is a yearly reminder to continue working a recovery program, so that I can remember another feast day of St. Nicholas.

This is a suggestion. Look at the calendar of saints. Find one close to the date a significant change occurred in your life. Learn about that saint. Observe that saint’s day in your home and your life. You may even consider that saint your patron saint. This is one more way to remember how the God of love has transformed our lives. Spend that saint’s day giving thanks for those who loved you before you were born, with a passion that only comes from the love of the God of our understanding.

My hope is that we will all pay this love forward, giving back God’s love to a world so desperately in need of it.

A secret. St. Nikolas will make an appearance at the Children’s Chapel at St. Mark’s Episcopal Church in Little Rock tomorrow, Sunday, December 7th.
Joanna. https://www.joannaseibert.com/

Whole

Whole

Guest Writer: Jennifer Horne

Much in this world we don’t control

Much of life is uncertain

Our part is learning to flex and flow

Loose in the breeze like a lifted curtain

Every night we surrender to sleep

Waking into an unknown day

Every child who ever was born

Had to learn to trust that way

Place a beautiful bowl on a shelf

Leave it empty of all but its soul

Warmed and embraced by morning light

Make of yourself a beautiful bowl

Jennifer Horne.

Jennifer Horne's latest book of poems is Letters to Little Rock. She was the twelfth Poet Laureate of Alabama, from 2017-2021. Her "Mid-Week Poetry Break" poem readings appear on Facebook every Wednesday. Jennifer recently led an outstanding Advent Retreat at Saint Mark’s Episcopal Church for the Daughters of the King.

Bowl made by Dwight Lammon, member St. Matthias Episcopal Church, Tuscaloosa

Joanna joannaseibert.com

That Light in the Darkness

Jesus: Light and Waiting

“I am the Light of the World. Whoever follows me will never walk in darkness, but will have the light of life.” — John 8:12.

Nestled away in the side chapel of Keble College, Oxford, is this haunting painting, “The Light of the World,” by Holman Hunt. I stumbled upon it on an adventure walk at Oxford one summer, when we spent two weeks at nearby Wadham College. The painting mesmerized me, so I sat and visited it almost every afternoon. Hunt painted it in 1854 and sold it to Thomas Combe, who, on his death, willed it to Keble College. When Hunt heard Keble charged admission to see it almost fifty years later, he painted another picture four times larger, understanding that it would be considered a “sermon in a frame.” The larger work went on an international evangelism tour, where hundreds became believers.

When I discovered he donated this larger version to St. Paul’s Cathedral, I knew we needed to return to London to see it behind the altar in the North Transept, Middlesex Chapel. This version is just as haunting, but it is much harder to meditate on the painting with the crowds in that more extensive setting. I was almost always alone at the chapel at Keble.

I sometimes go to Pierce Chapel at Trinity Cathedral in Little Rock, where this painting is in a stained glass window.

This is just a reminder of how art, even one painting, can make a difference in the world.

The figure of Christ, with his searching eyes, stands with a lantern on the other side of a door, overgrown with dead weeds and rotten fruit on the ground. This speaks volumes about our relationship with Christ more than most theological writings. Christ has been there for some time. No matter where we stand or sit in connection to the painting, Christ’s eyes look directly at us. The door opens from the inside. Christ is not banging on the door, but persistently and gently knocking.

I give copies of this image to spiritual friends, especially when they feel God’s absence.
God is there waiting.
Advent reminds us that we are not only waiting for God, but God also still waits for us, even if that door has been closed off for years.

Joanna  https://www.joannaseibert.com/