Weekly Links!

~ LINKS TO SOME INTERESTING READING, FOR WHAT'S LEFT OF YOUR WEEKEND ~


-I have loved Linda Holmes' thoughts on reality TV since the days she was covering Survivor for the now-defunct site Television Without Pity. Here she is, talking about the ethics of a recent episode of Top Chef for NPR.



-A review of "Nailed It" from Aimee Byrd over at The Housewife Theologian. A snippet:

This is a devotional for those who don't fit into the happy-little-Christian box. And it's also for those who think it's okay to have a little humor in their reading reflections. Kennedy doesn't pick all the easy verses either. She pulls devotion to God out of what may have seemed random acts in history. Our days are kind of like that, aren't they? Circumstances often seem arbitrary and we sometimes question if it really matters how we get through them. That is what I especially appreciated about the book---Anne weaves all the tapestry together and helps the reader see the significance of God's holiness, mercy, and love in Christ working in our own lives now.

-And while I'm on the topic of my favorite devotional, here's a lovely podcast: "Persuasion: How Sarcasm is Good for the Soul." 



-And speaking of good podcasts, I liked this one: "Mere Fidelity: Humble Roots, with Hannah Anderson."



-And here's another good thing by Hannah Anderson, this time an essay: "You Can't Do It All: Rex Tillerson and the Limits of Vocation."



-"Minimalism Gets It Wrong."



-Also, "The Minimalism Trap."



-And, on our current season of the church year, here's "How To Throw an Epiphany Party In Four Easy Steps." 



-"How 'Sherlock of the Library' Cracked the Case of Shakespeare's Identity"



-These short filmed scenes of King Lear are amazing.



-And, finally, sailing the solar system with solar sailing ships.



I hope you have a lovely Sunday, full of worship and rest!

Peace of Christ to you,
Jessica Snell

"Why Celebrate Epiphany?"

why baptize? in Jesus' words, "to fulfill all righteousness".

Happy Epiphany!

My friend, Anna Gissing, has a good article over at The Bethlehem about why we celebrate this day.  She has ideas for celebrating it in the home, too - of course she does, because she authored the "Epiphany" chapter in this great little book! :D


Epiphany celebrates three distinct events in the gospels, which are all about Jesus' glory being shown forth to the whole world - Jew and Gentile alike! His glory was to be declared to every person, regardless of race or culture. After you've had a chance to read Anna's words over at the link, you might also take some time on this holiday to read the gospel passages about the three "showings-forth":

-The adoration of the Magi - Where Gentile wise men found God's Messiah.
-The baptism of Jesus - Where the Father declared his pleasure in his Son.
-The miracle at Cana - His first miracle, where he "manifested his glory" and "his disciples believed in him."


God bless you on this good day!



Peace of Christ to you,
Jessica Snell



This post contains Amazon affiliate links. If you purchase something through these links, I'll receive a small percentage of the purchase price - for my own shopping! :) (See full disclosure on sidebar of my blog.)

Intervew with Anna Moseley Gissing

Hi folks! Today I have a treat - I got to sit down and talk to Anna Moseley Gissing, one of the contributors to Let Us Keep the Feast.  

Me: Hi, Anna! It's good to have you here today. You’re the author of the Epiphany chapter in Let Us Keep the Feast, so I wanted to start by asking you, what’s your strongest Epiphany memory, good or bad?

Anna: I did not grow up celebrating Epiphany, so my memories are all quite recent. A few years ago, we started allowing our magi (from our nativity scene) to travel towards the manger over Christmastide and to arrive on Epiphany. I have loved watching my young kids move the camel and the magi each day and seeing their joy as they announce to anyone and everyone that "It's Epiphany!"

Me: I love it when kids get excited about the season! So, what do you think the heart of the Epiphany season is?

Anna: To me, the heart of Epiphany is the recognition that the gospel is for everyone. The magi came from far away to worship Jesus even though he was born "king of the Jews." They did not have the Scripture, yet they followed a star to find Jesus and worship him with gifts fit for a king. These Gentile worshippers remind us that Jesus came for Jews and Gentiles. At Epiphany we celebrate that God in Jesus made himself manifest to people in new ways. Jesus is the light of the world and yet, He calls his disciples the light of the world as well. So it's a season to focus on sharing the light of Christ with others as well.

Me: That's beautiful, Anna. Reading and editing your chapter on Epiphany in Let Us Keep the Feast really clarified the meaning of Epiphany for me and gave me a much deeper appreciation for it.

And now I want to ask you about writing that chapter: what surprised you most as you did the research for it? 

Anna: What surprised me the most about Epiphany is how little seems to be written about it. When we consider this season a time to focus on the earthly ministry of Jesus, the time in between his birth and death, it seems odd that it should be such an overlooked time. 

Me: I totally agree! Okay, last question: of all the sections in your chapter, which one was the most fun to write?

Anna: It might sound dull, but I found the introduction the most fun to write. My goal was to explain both why Epiphany is significant and how it fits in between Christmas and Lent. In addition, I really enjoyed reflecting on the narratives of the magi and the baptism of Jesus and how they might shape our observance of this season.

Me: I think you really succeeded in that goal, Anna. Thank you for being here today!




This post contains Amazon affiliate links. (See full disclosure on sidebar of my blog.)

Giveaway!

Enter to win a free copy of the Epiphany and Lent volume of "Let Us Keep the Feast" over at Life of a Catholic Librarian!

Peace of Christ to you,
Jessica Snell


This post contains affiliate links. (See full disclosure on sidebar of my blog.)

Weekend Links - wine, vaccines, and more!

Interesting reading from around the Web:

"We made a sommelier taste all the Trader Joe's Two-Buck Chuck":

Here's the thing, though: some of it's actually pretty damn good, and could easily be sold as Nine-to-Eleven-Buck Chuck without anyone being the wiser.

So we brought in two devoted tasters to blindly drink eight different types of Charles Shaw Blend, hit us with detailed notes, and determine 1) which bottles are totally palatable and even enjoyable, and 2) which should be avoided as if they were made by Chuck Woolery, who, it turns out, makes terrible wine.

"Growing Up Unvaccinated":

Pain, discomfort, the inability to breathe or to eat or to swallow, fever and nightmares, itching all over your body so much that you can’t stand lying on bed sheets, losing so much weight you can’t walk properly, diarrhea that leaves you lying prostrate on the bathroom floor, the unpaid time off work for parents (and if you’re self employed that means NO INCOME), the quarantine, missing school, missing parties, the worry, the sleepless nights, the sweat, the tears and the blood, the midnight visits to A and E, sitting in a doctor’s waiting room on your own because no one will sit near you because they’re rightfully scared of those spots all over your kid’s face.

Those of you who have avoided childhood illnesses without vaccines are lucky. You couldn’t do it without us pro-vaxxers. Once the vaccination rates begin dropping, the less herd immunity will be able to protect your children. The more people you convert to your anti-vax stance, the quicker that luck will run out.

"Celebrating Epiphany": I love Ann's ideas for month-long celebration! Very creative and family-friendly.

"The God of the Coming Year":

And Osteen’s books be damned, you may have the worst year of days you have ever seen.

"Resolve to Resolve":

In the place where hope meets grace, there is God. God is where resolutions become effective. God is where change happens. Grace is the answer to the naysayers, those voices both within and without who say that you cannot start afresh. Grace is the breath of fresh air in April when the resolutions of the new year and even the Lenten promises look like one big heap of failed attempts at perfection. Grace reminds us that His power is made perfect in our weakness and the true growth in holiness is in the soul’s earnest effort. Grace is sufficient. Sufficient? It’s abundant.

"Rainbow Rowell and the World with No Rules":

. . . YA novels should be written for teen readers, not adults who just want the teenagers in the books to hurry up and grow up. I’m not advocating for the teens in this book to grow up already and have their worldview and ethics all figured out. I just want them to have something, preferably Christianity, but something, to push against, to wrestle with, and possibly to grow into. 

"The Invisible Anglicanism of CS Lewis":

It is striking that as much as Lewis spoke about mere Christianity, when asked to speak about his own spiritual life he constantly returned to his roots in Anglicanism. Lewis might have written about a broad Christian orthodoxy, but the spiritual experience that enabled him to do so was much narrower. 

more on Epiphany! (and "Let Us Keep the Feast")

First, an enlightening interview from Anna Moseley Gissing about celebrating Epiphany. An excerpt:

I grew up in a liturgical tradition in the Episcopal Church. As a family, we observed Advent and Christmas, Lent, Holy Week, and Easter. But I didn’t grow up celebrating Epiphany. I first became aware of Epiphany as a day to celebrate about eight years ago when I read an article about it by Lauren Winner who says, “In my view, Epiphany is one of the most important and sadly under-celebrated seasons of the church year” and I wanted to learn more about it.

Read the whole thing here.

And here is a neat review of "Let Us Keep the Feast" over at Watkins Every Flavored Beans:

I often have people ask me where to start in celebrating the church year or ask questions like "What are the twelve days of Christmas?" and often they really want to know; they are intrigued by the idea that families can live the church year in such tangible ways. I have lots of resources I love, but they are all so full of extra ideas and other holidays through the year, that there was no one simple place to point them. That is where this little book is brilliant. It is not the most exhaustive list of ideas and resources, but it is simple, unintimidating and a wonderful little handbook . . .

Thank you, Emily!


And some more kind words about "Let Us Keep the Feast":

"In a day of nonstop multisensory overload, these writers beckon us into the contemplative and sacred space of the church's calendar and focus our senses on the festive delights of Christian reflection and worship. For those of us who feel adrift in a culture spinning and swirling without orientation, Let Us Keep the Feast can recalibrate our lives, centering our hearts on Christ and anchoring our practices in church and home within the lively traditions of the saints."

-Andrew Byers, Chaplain of St Mary's College, Durham University and author of 'TheoMedia: The Media of God in the Digital Age' and 'Faith Without Illusions: Following Jesus as a Cynic-Saint.'


I hope you've had the chance to check out a copy!

Peace of Christ to you,
Jessica Snell


This post contains Amazon affiliate links. (See full disclosure on sidebar of my blog.)

Epiphany: what is it and how do we celebrate it?

What is Epiphany and how do we celebrate it? I'm blogging about this over at Clutter Interrupted today. Come and find out about this wonderful (and often overlooked) feast!

Peace of Christ to you,
Jessica Snell

What People Are Saying About "Let Us Keep the Feast: Epiphany and Lent"

I'm excited to say that the Epiphany and Lent edition of "Let Us Keep the Feast" is now available for purchase!  Here is what some people are saying about it:

As I read this book, I felt so much peace and joy in thinking about the many ways we can orient our lives to Christ's story.  In my busy, urban, context, I long for meaningful, embodied ways to connect with Jesus.  Let Us Keep the Feast will be a great blessing to me and the fast-moving city dwellers I minister to.

–Julie Barrios, Director of Spiritual Formation at Reality SF

With simplicity and sincerity, this little book shares the joy of celebrating Christ's gospel in the calendar. Its simplicity will give comfort and clarity to readers who have not yet celebrated the Christian calendar, and its sincerity will rally readers who have followed it their whole lives. It is practical and generous, stuffed with craft ideas, recipes, references to Auden or Eliot's poems, and heartfelt reflections–a delightful, edifying mixture.

- Peter David Gross, Executive Director of Wheatstone Ministries and Editor of The Examined Life

Christianity takes time seriously, and there is something special and holy about celebrating the church year in the home as a family.  I’m delighted to see this volume on Epiphany and Lent, and I believe it provides a wonderful resource to individuals and families who want to take seriously the sacred rhythms of a life in Christ.  Let Us Keep the Feast is a bountiful blessing!

-Peter Barnes, Senior Pastor, First Presbyterian Winston-Salem

This book comes to us not as exhortation but as invitation: Join the feast (and fast), it will nourish your soul and enrich your family. The authors usher us into two complementary seasons of the Christian Year, Epiphany (the season of light) and Lent (“the season of less”) in ways designed for home and heart. Anna Gissing helps us to extend the joyful implications of Jesus’ birth and life into the winter weeks of Epiphany, while Cate MacDonald guides us into the spirit of Lenten fasting intended to quiet us before God so that we can “hear more clearly” and “speak more honestly.” And these welcome and winsome encouragements come spiced with fresh resources for us and our families: scriptures, songs, poems, prayers, recipes and creative activities that help us dwell in the story of Christ artfully. Indeed, let us keep the feast with this spread of delectable servings.

-          Bobby Gross, author of Living the Christian Year and Director of InterVarsity's Graduate & Faculty Ministries

It is well-written, geared to the non-specialist reader who hasn't got a lot of time on her hands, and very practical. I think it ought to do very well and only hope that the other books in the series live up to this one.

-          Gerald Bray, Research Professor of Divinity, Beeson Divinity School, author of Godis Love, and The Doctrine of God

Protestant retrieving the Church calendar is one of the most important and encouraging signs of renewal that I know. This short introduction to two important seasons is everything an introduction should be: theologically astute, clear, practical, and properly introductory. It knows just how much people new to these practices might need to get started with a big list of resources for those who want more. I highly recommend it.

- Matthew Anderson, author of "The End of Our Exploring" and "Earthen Vessels"


Consider picking up a copy today!

Peace of Christ to you,
Jessica Snell

Links - Movie Backgrounds, Flying the Nest, Epiphany, and more!

6 Places You'll Recognize from the Background of Every Movie - I think the only one I've ever been to is Agua Dulce. But it's a fun list.  (I'd add the Huntington Library and Gardens to the list, too! That shows up all the time.)

The End Game of Motherhood - if you haven't acquainted yourself with Sandra Taylor's excellent blog, go on over and start with this one.

And, on the same theme, here's Michelle's My Eighteen Year Old Drove Away Today. I'm grateful for these mothers writing so well about stuff I haven't hit yet - makes me hope I might be more ready for it all when the day comes.

Bell and Board - a new discovery! A blog about cooking and eating through the church year. So cool!

"Obfuscatory pseudo-intellection":

I sometimes think that although western culture proudly regards itself as having cast off the shackles of Christianity, it has in fact only sunk into Christian heresy, with the labels switched to confuse the rubes. 

"Epiphany":

The gift of Epiphany is that all the gifts of Christmas are for us. Us!

"A Simple Way to Create Suspense": this one's for the writers, but I think anyone who consumes media will enjoy learning just how they're manipulated into turning the page. Put this in the "simple, but brilliant" category.

7 Quick Takes - Epiphany Edition

1. First off, your prayers are requested for Jen, who hosts 7 Quick Takes over at her blog, Conversion Diary. She's been hospitalized pulmonary embolisms, and is expecting, and can use our prayers.

2. This Sunday is the feast of the Epiphany, which celebrates, in the West, the revelation of the gospel to the nations (particularly with the coming of the wise men to visit the infant Jesus), and, in the East, the revelation of the doctrine of the Trinity (particularly as seen at Jesus' baptism).

3. One of the best ways to celebrate Epiphany is to light lots and lots of candles. It's a feast of light, in many ways, being a feast of revelation. Jesus is the light that lightens every nation, and in the home, lighting lots of candles is a good way to remember this.

4. But right now it's still Christmas! We celebrated that this week by making gingerbread houses. I actually found a kit that came with the parts for four little cabins, which delighted my four little children to no end:

5. It's also not a bad time to read "Twelfth Night" by Shakespeare. Which has nothing to do with the actual holiday other than the name, but it's a great play, so why not? (And if you want to watch it, this version is very good.)

6. More seriously, if you want some great ideas on celebrating Epiphany, this post by Kerry is one of my favorites. She has instructions on the traditional house blessing, as well as links to appropriate coloring pages for children and for a recipe for Three Kings Cake.

(And just wait till you see all the good ideas in the upcoming book about celebrating the church year in the home! Coming soon. :)  )

7. And . . . Epiphany is our new church's patronal feast day! So we'll have lots to celebrate this Sunday. I'm looking forward to it. (And Lent comes quickly this year - so enjoy the feast while you can!)

More quick takes can be found over here, at Hallie's place. (She's hosting for Jen.)

Links! Time, Light, and Space

Lars Walker writes about Talented People. His take on the parable of the talents is one of those brilliant things that makes you say, "well, of course! that's blindingly obvious! but I never saw it that way till now - thank you for pointing it out!"

For those of you in Southern California - my friend, Emily Moothart, is a doula who has a passion for helping women have great births. If you're in the market for a doula or know someone who is, check her out!

John Scalzi looks forward to the year 2012 in science fiction movies. I took three things away from this article:
   1. I didn't know "Old Man's War" had been optioned for a movie. Cool!
   2. Scalzi has much higher hopes than I do for "John Carter" (of Mars). I saw the preview in theater and snickered through the whole thing. Taylor Kitsch, get back into your football jersey!
   3. There are a fair amount of sci-fi movies coming out next year. Yay!

It's almost Epiphany, and the way to celebrate it is with light and space. This is just so beautiful. And appealing.

Peace of Christ to you,
Jessica Snell

Links! Butterfly effect, maternal guilt, a Christmas blog carnival, and more!

You remember the "butterfly effect" in chaos theory that was made famous by Jurassic Park? Here's a real-life case involving the Japanese tsunami and a turbine plant out in the boonies in Pennsylvania. I think I actually laughed out loud when I got to the "IT WILL BE TRUE for this test floor" bit.

I laughed even harder and longer when I read Simcha Fisher's "Maternal Guilt Cheat Sheet". A sampling:

THE OFFENCE:

You accidentally let slip a comment which implies that not every moment of childrearing is a profound and ecstatic dance of bliss, a sentiment which will undoubtably set the pro-life movement back forty years and do irreparable harm to your children’s souls, causing the boys to become pimps and the girls to become bitter, tank top-wearing Riot Grrrls who listen to Terry Gross and tattoo “I [heart] the culture of death” on their lower backs.

THE SOLUTION:

Remind yourself that, in order for your words to do any harm, your kids would actually have to be listening to you. Whew!

Anyone else notice that zombies are showing up a lot in popular culture these days? I'd actually been wondering why that was, and this is the first article I've seen that offers a plausible theory. (Warning: slightly gory picture at the top of article - easy to scroll past, but don't open it while little kids are reading over your shoulder.) I do wonder, though, if even though some of it is about the economy, as the writer suggests, if more of it doesn't have to do with our culture having no coherent idea of what the afterlife is like. (Suggestion to culture: convert to Christianity! En masse!)

Facing down the editing of the first book I intend to query, I've been trying to give myself a crash course in grammar. My education in English grammar could charitably be called eclectic and I really wanted a more complete - and functional - understanding of the topic. And look! Here's a free online class in grammar! I think I've found what I need, and I'm passing on the link just in case someone else out there is realizing that not only is she an English nerd, she's an ignorant English nerd. (No? Just me?)

Kerry is thinking of organizing a Nativity blog festival (for Advent and Christmas and Epiphany) and wants to know if anyone's interested. Go tell her you are so we can do it! I'm sleepy enough right now that I think my contribution will be, "Let's all be quiet with our eyes closed and spend the holy season praying quietly," but surely someone has a better idea and if the blog carnival goes forward I'll just be able to happily copy those of you with more energy. :)

Peace of Christ to you,
Jessica Snell

celebrating Epiphany with children

Just wanted to point folks over to Kerry's place, where she's outlined a simple way to celebrate Epiphany as a family. I'm hoping to try most of it tomorrow.

peace of Christ to you,

Jessica Snell

Happy Epiphany!

I hope your Christmas was good and glorious. Our was. For the first time all year, I felt like we caught up with ourselves.

Last year at this time, I was in a hospital bed, away from my oldest two children, wondering if my youngest two would make it safely home.

I am so grateful to have all six of us here now, and I am hoping that this year we can really sink into being a family of six, able to enjoy each other, now that the twinshock is starting to fade, and no one is hospitalized. God has been very, very good to us. I don't know what the next year will bring - whether joy or sorrow - but this year has taught us that whatever comes, we won't go through it alone.


Anyway, to start this year, Epiphany! I encourage you to go over to Kerry's, where she has some great suggestions for celebrating the season as a family.

While you're clicking links, also visit Emily's, where she breaks down the awful new law going into effect nation-wide in February: the lawmakers meant to protect our kids from lead, but the effect is that we won't be able to buy any secondhand children's clothing or toys at thrift stores or handmade children's clothing or toys at places like etsy.com. Yep. Pretty awful.

And me? I'm finishing the LAST of the handmade Christmas presents (yes, still) and beginning to work on a few of my own projects that I've been waiting to work on - and also working on a couple of tutorials that should be up in the next week or so.

And I'm praying a lot for my church, which is getting caught up in a bad way in the horrible things going on in the Episcopal church. Please pray for us.

peace of Christ to you,
Jessica Snell

Hurray for Three Kings Day!

I like finding books that tell stories about the holidays, and today at the library I found a good one.

It's called "Hurrah for Three Kings' Day" by Lori Marie Carlson, and it gets extra points right off the bat for using an apostrophe so well in its title.

It's illustrated by Ed Martinez, and it's a story of three siblings walking round the neighborhood, playing at being the "tres reyes", and looking for the baby Jesus.

One of the things I liked about it was that it illustrated Epiphany traditions from Hispanic culture, and included some Spanish words. I want my kids to grow up knowing that the church is bigger than just their own country and language.

Anyway, I think this is going to be reread a lot in this house, at least till we hit Lent!


peace of Christ to you,
Jessica

This post contains Amazon affiliate links. (See full disclosure on sidebar of my blog.)

happy Epiphany!

 I'm sorry I didn't manage to actually post on Epiphany, but it was a very busy day; Bess had her first public appearance: she was a flower girl in a dear friend's wedding.

So in my musing on homemaking through the church year this past Saturday, my mind wasn't
concentrating on the showing forth of Christ to the Gentiles.  Instead, I spent my time watching
my daughter, watching the bride, and occasionally eyeing the creche that was partially hidden
behind the line of groomsmen.

All of those images made me think about fruitfulness.  About how we put toddlers in weddings
because they're cute, but how the older reason for having young children bearing flowers before
the bride was to symbolize the hoped-for fruitfulness of the marriage.  It's old-fashioned now to think that first comes love, then comes marriage, and then comes the baby in
the baby carriage, and even more old-fashioned to think that the marriage necessitates the baby
carriage, sooner or later. 

But, more or less, I do.  The BCP puts it well: "when it is God's will, [marriage is for] the
procreation of children."  There are times, of course, that it is not his will.  But it is the normal
course of things.

Sarah and Dave, our newly-married friends, seemed to think so too, judging from the scriptures
they choose to have read.  The Psalm lavished them with blessings about progeny: may your wife
be a fruitful vine in your house, may your children be olive shoots around your table.

But, despite the small figure of the Christ-child peeking out behind the tuxedo forest, they got
married on Epiphany, and not during Christmas.   Epiphany, the time we remember the Three Kings, and Jesus' baptism.  The first showed Jesus to the whole world, represented by the wise men, and the second showed that world that Jesus was God's Son, when God the Father publically approved of him as he came up out of the water.

Marriage, when it's done right, is fruitful by its very nature.  Physically, there are the children. 
Spiritually, there are gifts of love and grace that have to come if two people are going to live
together peaceably.  And, in some mysterious sense, there is that third entity that is the married
couple, that one flesh that St. Paul refers to once, and then instantly insists that he was talking about Christ and the church.

And Epiphany is about fruitfulness too.  It's a big holiday for missionaries, for those who are busy spreading the gospel to those far reaches of the world that the wisemen represented.  It's
a time for the rest of us to pray for workers for the harvest, the workers Jesus once warned us
are so few.  The events of Epiphany represent the beginning of the spread of the good news that Jesus came to save us, and that "us" means EVERYBODY.   "Repent, for the kingdom of heaven
is at hand," preached John the Baptist.  And when he baptised Jesus, we saw the King to whom that kingdom belonged.

So, Sarah and Dave, here's a Epiphany wedding wish for you: may your marriage be glorious, like that glorious Bethlehem star was glorious.  May the brightness of your love, which grows out of the brightness of your Lord's love, show everyone around you that God is with us.

And may you have lots of cute babies.


peace of Christ to you,
Jessica