Practice Resurrection: send me your photos and captions!

For the next six weeks (from now until Pentecost), will you join me in feasting on Resurrection goodness in our everyday lives?

During Lent, the phrase retrieve lament captures me through the words of Rilke. During the Great Fifty Days of Easter, it's the lovable contrarian Wendell Berry exhorting my imagination with two words (plus many more): Practice Resurrection.

I also remember each year the passage I've fallen in love with from N.T. Wright:

"... we should be taking steps to celebrate Easter in creative new ways: in art, literature, children's games, poetry, music, dance, festivals, bells, special concerts, anything that comes to mind. this is our greatest festival....This is our greatest day. We should put the flags out. 

...if Lent is a time to give things up, Easter ought to be a time to take things up. Champagne for breakfast again -- well, of course....The forty days of the Easter season, until the ascension, ought to be a time to balance out Lent by taking something up, some new task or venture, something wholesome and fruitful and outgoing and self-giving. You may be able to do it only for six weeks, just as you may be able to go without beer or tobacco only for the six weeks of Lent. But if you really make a start on it, it might give you a sniff of new possibilities, new hopes, new ventures you never dreamed of. It might bring something of Easter into your innermost life..."

After attending Good Friday service together this year, my daughters and I talked honestly about how sometimes Easter feels like a let-down. It seems to be easier to understand fasting better that feasting. We thought that might be, in part, because our world is generally obsessed with feasting, and whatever we try to do to mark Eastertide feels like the stuff we're normally trying to do every day anyway. 

Maybe so. 

I wonder, too, if sometimes feasting shows more plainly how far away from God we still live. When I can be satisfied in just the right amount of wine or chocolate, that is feasting. When I can't stop either one, that turns into gluttony - which is no longer true feasting. In some ways, fasting is easier, see?

Put another way: feasting is a discipline, too. We take in the good with gratitude and contentment without making an idol of the gifts. This requires us to depend on the Creator as much (maybe more so) as any other spiritual exercise.

So that's what I've been pondering.

The last couple of years, we've celebrated Eastertide on this blog with photos and captions you send me each week. It's one of my favorite series all year, and I'm excited it's time to start again!

For the next six weeks (from now until Pentecost), will you join me in feasting on Resurrection goodness in our everyday lives? It can be as simple as a special candle you use for your meals during Eastertide or as elaborate as travelling across the world to meet new people. 

Whatever it is, will you show us a picture and tell us a few words? Plant spring flowers (maybe a new variety this year)? Show us! Get up to see the sun rise on a Sunday morning? Tell us about it! Take a new route to work (maybe taking more time than necessary in honor of the mad farmer)? Share it!

Three steps to play along:

1. Add something to your day that helps you practice resurrection. (one day or fifty days doesn't matter)  

2. Take a picture and write a description in 1-50 words.  

3. Share it with me via an email, Facebook. I'll share some of your photo-stories with everyone here each week.

Who's in?

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Thank you to these friends who are helping me kick off this weekly series: 

"I journeyed and prayed through the prayer labyrinth this morning out at the Shrine of St. Therese. There I laid my sorrows down. There I thanked Him for His suffering and enduring the cross. There I laid the 25 years of my marriage down. There I begged Him to be kind and gracious and to forgive my failures. He is full of grace and freedom. Thank you Jesus for all you are to me." (Wendy Wall, Juneau, AK)

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(I love an artist willing to share a photo of his work in progress!) "Day one of my next parable painting : Mark 4:26-29 26 He also said, ‘The kingdom of God is as if someone would scatter seed on the ground, 27 and would sleep and rise night and day, and the seed would sprout and grow, he does not know how. 28 The earth produces of itself, first the stalk, then the head, then the full grain in the head. 29 But when the grain is ripe, at once he goes in with his sickle, because the harvest has come.’ " (Jim Janknegt, Austin)

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"We haven't traveled locally nearly as much here in Texas.... I think we have to be really intentional or else it doesn't happen, what with city life and unbelievable traffic in our day-to-day. Today? We decided to let the kids take a day off school and take their learning on the road - just like we used to. Feels good to find a familiar rhythm today." (Tsh Oxenreider, Austin. By the way, you can read about this excursion at Tsh's blog, The Art of Simple)

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"Easter welcomes outdoor running on Lake Michigan." (Sarah Lewis, Chicago)

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"A few little vignettes from today's Easter feast with darling friends. I'm so happy to have had a house full of laughing and toasting and food." / "Phaedra printed a collection of posters for Easter and placed them throughout the house. It was like a scavenger hunt for words that dearly need to be true and images that made our spaces beautiful. God knows I need his resurrection life, and thank Jesus for it." (Phaedra & David Taylor, Richmond, TX)

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"Just because!" (Kim & Gracie Akel, Austin)

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"I was overwhelmed today that God would send me to Japan at such a gloriously beautiful time as cherry blossom blooming. I'm so glad he knows our hearts and gives us these good gifts." (Tammy Burger, Binghamton, NY)

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Prelude to Vespers, Easter Sunday at Orcas Island Community Church  (Brian Moss, Eastsound, WA)

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Now it's your turn. Who wants to join us?

The best place to start is with another reading of the poem that inspires our Eastertide blog series....

Manifesto: The Mad Farmer Liberation Front

 by Wendell Berry

Love the quick profit, the annual raise,
vacation with pay. Want more
of everything ready-made. Be afraid
to know your neighbors and to die.
And you will have a window in your head.
Not even your future will be a mystery
any more. Your mind will be punched in a card
and shut away in a little drawer.
When they want you to buy something
they will call you. When they want you
to die for profit they will let you know.

So, friends, every day do something
that won’t compute. Love the Lord.
Love the world. Work for nothing.
Take all that you have and be poor.
Love someone who does not deserve it.
Denounce the government and embrace
the flag. Hope to live in that free
republic for which it stands.
Give your approval to all you cannot
understand. Praise ignorance, for what man
has not encountered he has not destroyed.

Ask the questions that have no answers.
Invest in the millenium. Plant sequoias.
Say that your main crop is the forest
that you did not plant,
that you will not live to harvest.
Say that the leaves are harvested
when they have rotted into the mold.
Call that profit. Prophesy such returns.

Put your faith in the two inches of humus
that will build under the trees
every thousand years.
Listen to carrion – put your ear
close, and hear the faint chattering
of the songs that are to come.
Expect the end of the world. Laugh.
Laughter is immeasurable. Be joyful
though you have considered all the facts.
So long as women do not go cheap
for power, please women more than men.
Ask yourself: Will this satisfy
a woman satisfied to bear a child?
Will this disturb the sleep
of a woman near to giving birth?

Go with your love to the fields.
Lie down in the shade. Rest your head
in her lap. Swear allegiance
to what is nighest your thoughts.
As soon as the generals and the politicos
can predict the motions of your mind,
lose it. Leave it as a sign
to mark the false trail, the way
you didn’t go. Be like the fox
who makes more tracks than necessary,
some in the wrong direction.

Practice resurrection. 

Lent Daybook, 22: What is the kingdom of God like?

My Lent daybook for these 40 days of prayer. Join me, won't you? (see previous Lent daybook 2016 posts here)

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look

World's Smallest Seed
James B. Janknegt
source

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read

Luke 13:18-21 

He said therefore, “What is the kingdom of God like? And to what shall I compare it? It is like a grain of mustard seed that a man took and sowed in his garden, and it grew and became a tree, and the birds of the air made nests in its branches.”  

And again he said, “To what shall I compare the kingdom of God? It is like leaven that a woman took and hid in three measures of flour, until it was all leavened.”

all readings for the day: Psalm 39; Numbers 13:17-27; Luke 13:18-21

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pray

Almighty God, you know that we have no power in ourselves to help ourselves: Keep us both outwardly in our bodies and inwardly in our souls, that we may be defended from all adversities which may happen to the body, and from all evil thoughts which may assault and hurt the soul; through Jesus Christ our Lord, who lives and reigns with you and the Holy Spirit, one God, for ever and ever. Amen. (source)

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listen

Kingdom Comes by Sara Groves

( I invite you to listen with me to my ever-evolving Lent playlist & Lent Spirituals playlist )

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do

Make homemade yeast with sourdough starter. Consider Jesus's description of the kingdom of God as leaven hidden in the flour. Contrast that to the Jewish custom of removing all leaven from their homes for Passover. What are some implications of leaven being compared to sin in the Jewish law and being compared to God's kingdom in Jesus's teaching?

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(see all Lent daybook posts from 2015 here)

Advent daybook, 8: one crying out in the wilderness

My Advent daybook for these 24 days of waiting. Join me, won't you?

(see all Advent daybook posts from 2014 here)

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look

Incarne

Shannon Newby

source

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read

Mark 1:1-8: one crying out in the wilderness

{all readings for the day: Isaiah 40:1-11; 

Psalm 85:1-2, 8-13; 2 Peter 3:8-15a; Mark 1:1-8}

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pray  

Merciful God, who sent your messengers the prophets to preach repentance and prepare the way for our salvation: Grant us grace to heed their warnings and forsake our sins, that we may greet with joy the coming of Jesus Christ our Redeemer; who lives and reigns with you and the Holy Spirit, one God, now and forever. Amen. (source)

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listen

Comfort, Comfort Now My People

JG Hymns

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make/do

send Christmas cards to some who might not normally receive them
Christmas cards via James B. Janknegt

Advent calendar via Ambrosium

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Advent daybook, 14: We did not recognize Him

My Advent daybook for these 24 days of waiting. Join me, won't you?

look

The Visitation
Jim Janknegt
source

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read 

Matthew 17:10-13: We did not recognize him

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pray 

O Holy One Who Comes, we turn again to you, and we open our hearts, we open our minds, we open our entire beings to your approach. We ask for strength and wisdom that we may now prepare the way. We ask that all may receive you in joy. Now and forever. Amen. (source)

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listen

Hear Now, You House of David

Ordinary Time

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do

send Christmas cards to some who might not normally receive them
Christmas cards via James B. Janknegt

Advent calendar via Ambrosium

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7 Quick Takes: a day at Laity Lodge, Kendra turns 17, making stuff at SXSW and more!

--- 1 ---

Total highlight from this gorgeous week in Austin.....

The Wall Project at SXSW
6th and Nueces between Haddingtons and Waltons

....that's me making writing words on paper art while Jim and co. make painting art.  I think, perhaps, in this shot Drake is making silent prayers but he also might be trying to figure out how to get the club DJ across the street throw on some Dave Matthews Band.

A couple links for more info about The Wall Project at SXSW:

A Spark of Christ in the City at World Magazine online

The Wall Project at SXSW (the Wall Project blog) 

Also, here's a short video clip of the artist at work:

Jim Janknegt at work (video from Jeffrey Mays)

--- 2 ---

I told you last week that Brian totally hit the target on my birthday gift.  A day road trip into the Texas hill country to drop in on the Ministers to Artists Retreat happening at Laity Lodge.  

James K. A . Smith and W. David O. Taylor discussing Orson Scott Card

It probably reveals my inner dork that my best idea for my birthday meant sitting in the back of a room listening to a philosopher and a theologian talk about art and church.  Then so be it.

[I wrote a lot about James K. A. Smith's book Desiring the Kingdom in my Parenting Unrehearsed post:  How to Keep Your Kids from Spending Too Much Time at Church]

annual photo (via David's camera and a really patient LL staff guy)

But it's never just about the good teaching.  It's the land and the sky and the Frio River.  Also, the food.  And the art.  A heavenly buffet of truth, goodness and beauty, yessir!

[For a brief idea of David's talk this year, read Artists as Caretakers of the Imagination: six thoughts at Diary of an Arts Pastor]

A highlight for us was sitting in on an evening of singing together under Isaac Wardell's disarming worship leading.  Stop for a minute and think about the last time you held a piece of sheet music in your hand, trying to find the notes in a four-part harmony?  Probably been awhile, right?  Yep, me too.

A beautiful exercise with soul-stirring results.  (click play to listen in a few seconds...)

--- 3 ---

If I could transport myself to one more conference this year, it'd be this one (led by Isaac Wardell):

Bifrost Arts Cry of the Poor Conference in Philadelphia, April 22 - 24.  

From the conference website:  John Foley’s well-known hymn describes a God who is near to the broken-hearted, who hears the cry of the poor. When our spirit is crushed, God is a safe shelter for our fears. 

This year’s Bifrost conference will explore the intersection of worship, community, and mercy. Speakers will include Makoto Fujimura (Director of International Arts Movement), John Witvliet (Director of the Calvin Institute of Christian Worship), Greg Thompson (fellow at the Institute for Advanced Studies in Culture), and Frère Emmanuel (brother from the worshipping community of Taize), as well as other panels and workshops. 

We are also excited to have music from Sandra McCracken, Philadelphia Choral Arts, the Bifrost Arts Ensemble, and The Welcome Wagon. We hope you can join us!

--- 4 ---

Another highlight -- visiting the art installation Laity Lodge commissioned Roger Feldman to build on the land.  

The stonework structure hidden in the Canyon is already marvelous -- even in its unfinished state.   I'm looking forward to going back again when it's completed.

--- 5 ---

My friend Micha Boyett announced some really exciting news at her blog yesterday!

My Very Big Announcement: A Book Deal, Baby!  at Mama:Monk

More good words on the internet this week:

• 11 Rules for Life from SXSW Interactive keynote, Tina Roth Eisenberg at culturemap Austin: a pretty decent list (my favorite is #11!)

• Papamoon! at SimchaFisher: a fun way to get to know the new Pope

• Rebuild My Church by Jim Wallis at Sojourners: good hopes for a new era

--- 6 ---

In a practically-perfect in every way sort of weekend we spent all day Sunday celebrating Kendra's 17th birthday! (with a bit of lingering celebration for me as well...)

For her birthday gift, we purchased her bus tickets to visit Alex in Houston for two days.  Yes, I do trust my college-freshman son enough with my highschool-junior daughter to let them hang out together on campus for two days without me knowing what they're up to every moment.  (that didn't stop me from wondering a few times, though!)

Brian caught this snapshot of Kendra boarding the mega-bus.  I didn't even recognize her at first -- like, who's that beautiful woman boarding the bus?  Good golly, these kids amaze me...

--- 7 ---

Watch this gorgeously rendered short film documenting Roger Feldman and his process behind the creation of 'ekko', a stonework installation in the grounds of Freswick Castle, Scotland.

ekko: Return from Far North Film on Vimeo.

A beauty and grace-filled weekend for us all, dear ones.

For more Quick Takes, visit Conversion Diary!