Easter daybook, week 7: Holy Father, protect them in your name that you have given me, so that they may be one, as we are one.

An Easter daybook for these 7 weeks of Alleluia! Join me, won't you? 

(see all Easter daybook 2015 posts here)

.....

look

.....

read

John 17:11: And now I am no longer in the world, but they are in the world, and I am coming to you. Holy Father, protect them in your name that you have given me, so that they may be one, as we are one. 

{all readings for the day: Acts 1:15-17, 21-26  • Psalm 1  • 1 John 5:9-13  • John 17:6-19}

.....

pray  

O God, the King of glory, you have exalted your only Son Jesus Christ with great triumph to your kingdom in heaven: Do not leave us comfortless, but send us your Holy Spirit to strengthen us, and exalt us to that place where our Savior Christ has gone before; who lives and reigns with you and the Holy Spirit, one God, in glory everlasting. Amen. source

.....

listen

Alleluia, Sing to Jesus 
Urban Doxology

Listen to my Resurrection playlist here

.....

do

 Christ Church Eastertide Devotional 2015

download a copy by using this link: 

http://www.christchurchofaustin.org/sites/default/files/cc-eastertide-devotional-2015.pdf

.....

Celebrating Ascension Day (again) with Tintoretto, Austin's Blue Lapis Light and a Shaker hymn

Sharing again a post from last year's Ascension Day.  I find such hope in this celebration.  See two other years:  and ascended into heaven, and sitteth on the right hand of the Father (2012) & making space to wait (2011)

------------------

Meditating this week on the beautiful feet of our risen, ascended, reigning Christ.

The Christ who sits at the right hand of the Father, 

the whole earth a footstool for his (resurrected) human feet.

The Ascension, detail
Tintoretto, 1579-81

Read:  Acts 1:1-11  

The Promise of the Holy Spirit

Dance: Austin's Blue Lapis Light, Heaven ~ Earth ~ One , Septembe 2012 at the Long Center.  (This video shows rehearsal, go here to see video of the actual performance.)

Sing a hymn: Lord of the Dance written by English songwriter Sydney Carter , to the Shaker tune "Simple Gifts" (listen to the Choristers of Wells Cathedral Choir)

I danced in the morning when the world was begun,

And I danced in the moon and the stars and the sun,

And I came down from heaven and I danced on the earth;

At Bethlehem I had my birth.

(Refrain)

Dance then wherever you may be;

I am the Lord of the dance, said he,

And I'll lead you all, wherever you may be,

And I'll lead you all in the dance, said he.

I danced for the scribe and the pharisee,

But they wouldn't dance, and they wouldn't follow me;

I danced for the fishermen, for James and John;

They came with me and the dance went on.

(Refrain)

I danced on the Sabbath and I cured the lame;

The holy people said it was a shame.

they whipped and they stripped and they hung me high,

And left me there on a cross to die.

(Refrain)

I danced on a Friday when the sky turned black;

It's hard to dance with the devil on your back.

They buried my body and they thought I'd gone;

But I am the dance and I still go on.

(Refrain)

They cut me down and I leap up high;

I am the life that'll never, never die;

I'll live in you if you'll live in me:

I am the Lord of the Dance, said he.

(Refrain)

Dance, then wherever you may be;

I am the Lord of the dance, said he,

And I'll lead you all, wherever you may be,

And I'll lead you all in the dance, said he.

(found via The Rising: Living the Mysteries of Lent, Easter, and Pentecost by Wendy M. Wright)

Sixth week of Eastertide with Tintoretto, Austin's Blue Lapis Light and a Shaker hymn

Meditating this week on the beautiful feet of our risen, ascended, reigning Christ.

The Christ who sits at the right hand of the Father, 

the whole earth a footstool for his (resurrected) human feet.

The Ascension, detail
Tintoretto, 1579-81

Acts 1:1-11

English Standard Version (ESV)

The Promise of the Holy Spirit

1 In the first book, O Theophilus, I have dealt with all that Jesus began to do and teach, ² until the day when he was taken up, after he had given commands through the Holy Spirit to the apostles whom he had chosen. ³ He presented himself alive to them after his suffering by many proofs, appearing to them during forty days and speaking about the kingdom of God.

⁴ And while staying with them he ordered them not to depart from Jerusalem, but to wait for the promise of the Father, which, he said, “you heard from me; ⁵ for John baptized with water,but you will be baptized with the Holy Spirit not many days from now.”

The Ascension

⁶ So when they had come together, they asked him, “Lord, will you at this time restore the kingdom to Israel?” ⁷ He said to them, “It is not for you to know times or seasons that the Father has fixed by his own authority. ⁸ But you will receive power when the Holy Spirit has come upon you, and you will be my witnesses in Jerusalem and in all Judea and Samaria, andto the end of the earth.” ⁹ And when he had said these things, as they were looking on, he was lifted up, and a cloud took him out of their sight. ¹⁰ And while they were gazing into heaven as he went, behold, two men stood by them in white robes, ¹¹ and said, “Men of Galilee, why do you stand looking into heaven? This Jesus, who was taken up from you into heaven, will come in the same way as you saw him go into heaven.”

Dance: Austin's Blue Lapis Light, Heaven ~ Earth ~ One , Septembe 2012 at the Long Center.  (This video shows rehearsal, go here to see video of the actual performance.)

Hymn: Lord of the Dance written by English songwriter Sydney Carter , to the Shaker tune "Simple Gifts" (listen to the Choristers of Wells Cathedral Choir)

I danced in the morning when the world was begun,

And I danced in the moon and the stars and the sun,

And I came down from heaven and I danced on the earth;

At Bethlehem I had my birth.

(Refrain)

Dance then wherever you may be;

I am the Lord of the dance, said he,

And I'll lead you all, wherever you may be,

And I'll lead you all in the dance, said he.

I danced for the scribe and the pharisee,

But they wouldn't dance, and they wouldn't follow me;

I danced for the fishermen, for James and John;

They came with me and the dance went on.

(Refrain)

I danced on the Sabbath and I cured the lame;

The holy people said it was a shame.

they whipped and they stripped and they hung me high,

And left me there on a cross to die.

(Refrain)

I danced on a Friday when the sky turned black;

It's hard to dance with the devil on your back.

They buried my body and they thought I'd gone;

But I am the dance and I still go on.

(Refrain)

They cut me down and I leap up high;

I am the life that'll never, never die;

I'll live in you if you'll live in me:

I am the Lord of the Dance, said he.

(Refrain)

Dance, then wherever you may be;

I am the Lord of the dance, said he,

And I'll lead you all, wherever you may be,

And I'll lead you all in the dance, said he.

(found via The Rising: Living the Mysteries of Lent, Easter, and Pentecost by Wendy M. Wright)

and ascended into heaven, and sitteth on the right hand of the Father

Celebrating the ascended Christ, the reigning Christ, the interceding Christ, the returning Christ this Ascension Sunday.

Ascension of Christ
Salvador Dali

ascending

by Luci Shaw (The Secret Trees)

  

for the time

being / the dark earth

was enough

to substantiate you

in our vision

but the universal circle

claimed you / rid

of a finite foothold

you lifted / scattered

your feathers in light

faceted the

invisibilities

of thin air / time & space

after the light-ning

malted in one

blinded / our eyes

turn inward

as we find

your closer paraclete

our truer view

a sonnet for Ascension Day by Malcolm Guite:

Tuesday is for Hospitality: making space to wait

waiting for wind

When Jesus lifted from the earth, he gave his friends parting instructions.  True to His way, He only gave them only part of the information they likely hoped for.  He'd told them He'd send a Comforter, but He didn't tell them what that would look like, feel like, sound like.  He didn't tell them how the Comforter would arrive.  

He just told them to be together and to wait.  To make time and space for the arrival of this unknown Guest.

And they did that for ten days.  Ten days of being together in the waiting.  Can you imagine what those days must have felt like?  

"While staying with them he charged them not to depart from Jerusalem, but to wait for the promise of God who had sent him, which, he said, 'you heard from me, for John baptized with water, but before many days you shall be baptized with the Holy Spirit.' "

Today my family is waiting for the arrival of instructions, Holy Spirit guidance and comfort.  Our friends and family join us from their own cities and homes.  May our waiting and praying make a welcome space for the Holy Spirit's power.

"But you shall receive power when the Holy Spirit has come upon you; and you shall be my witnesses in Jerusalem and in all Judea and Samaria and to the end of the earth."

Tilting at Giants, 2006, aluminium, steel, votive candles, glass votive holders, braided fishing line, steel cable, rigging hardware, 30 x 100 x 10 feet. Tilting at Giants  is a permanent site-specific sculpture located in the historic Chambers-Wylie Memorial Presbyterian Church building in downtown Philadelphia, PA. Now operated by Broad Street Ministry, the work was commissioned by the ministry with an open call for proposals administrated through the Philadelphia Percent for Art Program. http://daytoncastleman.com/section/33068_Tilting_at_Giants.html

Monday Mix Tape, et al: Ascension Day

track 1:  Art

Ascension of Christ
Salvador Dali

track 2: Music

track 3:  Poetry

ascending

by Luci Shaw (The Secret Trees)

  

for the time

being / the dark earth

was enough

to substantiate you

in our vision

but the universal circle

claimed you / rid

of a finite foothold

you lifted / scattered

your feathers in light

faceted the

invisibilities

of thin air / time & space

after the light-ning

malted in one

blinded / our eyes

turn inward

as we find

your closer paraclete

our truer view