Candlemas and Starting To Grow God's Garden

     I did it! I finally did it you guys! I got together a Candlemas celebration that was worthy of the adorableness that is Candlemas. You would have been so proud of me. Granted, we did not do the celebration on Candlemas, because- c'mon, do you not know me at all? The point is we did it, with candles and seeds and praying and stories, and everything, and it was super fun.
     This year I decided that our Candlemas imagery was seeds. Halfway between winter solstice and spring eqinox, Candlemas is the point to shake off the winter blahs. Bulbs start to sprout out of the ground, and animals come out of hibernation. It is traditionally a time to prep the farm for the upcoming season. It's also the day wer remember the Anointment of Jesus at the temple, which I figure workds perfectly with the seed imagery. Stay with me here. Jesus is getting bigger. He's not just a sleepy, lump anymore; he's a reaching, toddling, gurgling baby with a personality. His annunciation- basically his baptism- welcomes Jesus into the Jewish community and starts him on God's path. Mary Joseph, Ana and Simeon weren't sure where his path would lead, but they could tell that it was important and would bring everyone closer to God. It all ties together: seeds, growing potential, the start down our path as a child of God: boom. Nailed it, right?
     So, imagery secured, we started our celebration with God's Dream by Desmond Tutu. The book uses gentle language and sweet illustrations to describe God's dream as loving each other as his children regardless of race religion or creed. It is one of our favorites. The story helped us make our Prayer Garden, based on the Wish Garden on Living Crafts. The kids drew pictures about ways that they hoped they could bring God's dream into being. I told them that these pictures were prayers, and prayers are like seeds. We begin by seeking God's way in our hearts, and by then, trying to follow the path of love, we will make God's home on Earth. It is the only true way to be happy. Warren drew a picture of a fireman helping an astronaut. Amani drew a picture of her helping animals.
     Next for the garden portion. I had bought some small seeds, and combined them with the seeds that came with the Fairy Garden Amani had received for Christmas. The kids buried their prayers in the soil, and sprinkled the soil with seeds. WWe also had to repot some orchids, so, you know, two birds. Remembering that longer sunny days were on the way, we placed a candle next to our flower pots, and Amani emphasized that we should all stop drop and roll should the flame suddenly roar out of control and consume the porch in flames. Safety first, guys.

In our prayer, we asked God to help us reach our goals so that we can bring happiness and light to the world.  Then we had granola bars. Grains are seeds. Delicious and seasonally appropriate.
     The kids really liked it, and I think having the flowers growing inside will help them remember the idea and give us something to reflect on and talk about as we watch the plants grow.

Celebrating Advent with The Jesse Tree

     I had been thinking about doing a Jesse tree with the kids for a few years. It's crafty, and involves a lot of fun Old Testament stories. I'm always looking for ways to add to our religion-centered our Christmas traditions, and this one can be designed to be a daily reminder of our faith in the overwhelming seasonal blitz of cookies and Christmas movies. Not that I have anything against cookies or Christmas movies; it's just nice to have balance.




     So a Jesse Tree links stories of the Old Testament as a way to the very beginning of God's relationship with his people. I began with this post from Kelleigh Ratzlaff Designs which focuses on stories in The Jesus Storybook Bible. It's particularly nice that at the end of each story in this book there is a sentence or two connecting back to the coming of Christ, a reminder that God's relationship with us began with Creation, moves through the entire Bible, culminating with the birth of Jesus.

     I mostly used the same stories Kelleigh used, but I added stories that have female protagonists, and others that stories that I just like. Since some stories I wanted weren't included in the Jesus Storybook Bible, so I added to our Jesse Tree volumes with the Usborn Illustrated Children's Bible Stories and Everlasting Stories by Lois Rock. For me, the tradition is not so much about tracing Jesus's actual family tree with specific stories and or symbols, as it is an opportunity to remember that the story of Christ didn't begin with the New Testament, but at the very beginning of God's love for his people.


     As for corresponding ornaments, there are so many options. Kelleigh's page includes a link to printable and/or felted ornaments, but I wanted kids to be involved a bit more in the ornament making, so I opted for the idea Alicia Michelle posted about using metal key rings. We used gel pen markers and as long as we were careful not to smudge, we were very pleased with our results. We hung them on this fake birch tree that we use for lots of different holiday traditions. Some people have a special tree, some people put them on their Christmas tree. There's really no wrong way to do this.


     I would highly recommend checking out some of the Jesse Tree ideas on Pinterest. There are a bazillion cute ways to create and display your ornaments along with all kinds of ideas like ornament trading party, and little songs and lessons you can do with your kids. I am way to lazy to do any of those things, but I like to pin them in a Pinterest board where I live an crafty, full engaged virtual existence, complete with a jaw-dropping wardrobe, and a fridge full of make-ahead healthy meals.

Sigh. Oh, Pinterest-Me: You're the best.

Here is our list with the stories we used with the accompanying ornaments: Some are them are traditional symbols, some are just items that work and are fairly easy to draw.

From Alicia Michelle's post:
"How To Celebrate Advent With a Jesse Tree"

1. Adam and Eve: Fruit
2. Noah: Boat
3. Abraham: Star
4. Isaac: Ram
5. Joseph: Coat
6. Plagues: Burning Bush
7. Ten Commandments: Tablets
8. Joshua: Horn
9. Ruth: Wheat
10. Samuel: Crown
11. David: Sling Shot
12. Esther: Scepter
13. Daniel: Lions
14. Jonah: Whale
15. Mary and Gabrielle: Angel
16. Elizabeth: Baby in a Belly/Oval
17. Baby Jesus: Manger

"But Wait, Claire! There are only 18 stories listed here! What about the other days of Advent?"

To that I say, "Shhhhh!!"

     I had originally wanted to read one story every night, but then I remembered some other fun Christmas stories that I also like reading, and some nights I forget. The left over ornaments we just added to our Christmas tree. Next time I think we may just do it a few times a week, but we will definitely still do it. The kids were not always 100% into the story, but they loved hanging the ornaments and were always excited to learn what we were reading next.

     Do you have an engaging way to focus of Christ during the Christmas season? Have you tried the Jessee Tree? I'd love to hear what creative personal touches you use that helped make your Advent fun and meaningful.

I am a firm believer that all religious traditions should have at least some element of the ridiculous

    I started reading The Catholic Home some time back, and I've been trying to integrate some of the ideas into our house.  The author suggested trying to wean our house off of the more secular symbols and introduce a few more faith-related.  With regards to Easter, she suggested that we try to downplay the Easter bunny and eggs, and decorate more with lambs and crosses.  I don't know how much we are downplaying the Easter bunny and egg thing; we definitely aren't giving up our neighbor's annual Easter egg hunt, and she can pry Cadbury Cream Eggs from my cold dead hands- but the lamb symbol actually fits very nicely into one of my favorite Easter traditions.  

    Every Easter when I was little, my mom made a carrot cake in a lamb mold, and frosted it with coconut frosting.  She left a the nose and ears unfrosted, placed raisins for the eyes, then sat him on a silver platter in Easter grass, sprinkled with jelly beans.  

     Then, usually, his head would fall off.

     One year, the frosting just refused to hold the back and the front of the lamb together and the little guy just split right down the middle.

     The cakes I've made for my own family have fared just about as well.

     I don't know why it is so hard to make this lamb cake, but it really is very difficult, and I have to say, I find it hilarious.  There are all kinds of cute little lamb molds you can buy that are much cuter and probably easier to complete, but I like to go old school.  I use the old-fashioned, Nordic Ware mold and really get a kick out of seeing how it turns out.  We do a spice cake, because though carrot cake might be more seasonally appropriate, spice cake is way better.  Also, coconut is a no-go at my house, so we just do standard vanilla frosting. Unfortunately, this year- I don't know why- the frosting just kept rolling off the stupid cake.  Not only would the back not stick to the front, but the poor little lamb's face just kept melting off like he had looked into the Ark of The Covenant. Poor little guy. I lay him down on his back, frosted him really fast and the stuck him in the fridge.

     It worked, but when I took it out it felt like it weighed 15 pounds, and sort of looked like it had been made out of Elmers glue.  Amani, who had been very excited to help me decorate the little lamb, jammed several banners made out of drinking straws and hand-drawn pictures of the Easter bunny.

     Frankly, I think it makes a very interesting commentary on the way secular society is overwhelming the original message of Jesus' sacrifice.  I'm sure that's what she was going for.

     It still tasted good.

    At least the head stayed on.

Give us sugar-loaded carbohydrates and a few books, and my family is pretty much down for anything.

Yay!  It's Lent!  I'm pretty excited to try to get Amani into all the Lent stuff this year.  She was really into all the Christmas traditions, and seemed to really understand so much of  the Christmas Story, so now I am very excited to teach her more about Catholic holidays.  Admittedly, she may not get as excited about 40 days of fasting, prayer and abstinence as I do, but we'll figure something out.

Pancakes: I'll hook her with pancakes, and books.

I mean, come on.

     This year I am thinking of using Make Room, but I have to give it a more careful investigation.  I have found I occasionally have to do a preview of the Christian children's books I read to my kids, just to double check they are the form of Christianity I want to teach.  Some people are far more eager to discuss the gory details of the Bible with their children than I am.

     I bought The Easter Story by Patricia Pingry and I thought it would be great. It had these sweet little illustrations of Jesus surrounded by children and seemed very simple and gentle. Then, we got to the part where they  mention the Romans nailing Jesus' hands and feet to The Cross, and then, naturally, Jesus dying.  I'm not sure what I was expecting, really.  It is not as though I was unaware of that plot point; I guess I just thought that detail would be sort of downplayed in a book for preschoolers.  I know; it is a little hard to talk about the resurrection of Christ without mentioning that Christ died, but Amani's four, and pretty sensitive: Jesus' death only made the story scary, and the lesson was completely missed.

     I tried another of Pingry's Books, The Story of Easter, and I feel like that did a really fantastic job of teaching the gist of the Easter story, while still being comforting and joyful for a preschooler.

     Generally, I highly suggest Patricia Pingry books.  We have two of them at home, and they are very sweet and clear, and have cute illustrations in which Jesus is a brown person.  (Side bar: As everybody knows, each portrayal of brown Jesus in your household earns you ten points on your Social-Liberal score card.)

Anyway, there are a ton of books out there to get me started, plus like 10 million craft ideas on Pinterest.  Somehow, I am going to get this child loving Lent as much as I do, no matter how much syrup it takes.

Why I am raising my kids Catholic: Part II

     I have always been generally a big fan of ceremonies and traditions.  This is largely because -regardless of the situation- I never know what I am supposed to be doing.  I really feel like there should be a manual out there for people like me that give hints onto how to behave when running into an acquaintance at the grocery store, or attending a party when you only know the host.  (Protip: Find a deli tray and shove your mouth full of food as fast and grotesquely as possible to ward off any potential social interaction.)

     Now that I have a little one, my whole life is centered around little ceremonies and routines.  Kids- well, actually probably adults too- need the little rituals and celebrations that mark the passage of time and remind us that there are patterns that guide our daily lives.  We sing a song at bedtime; We wave goodbye to the water at the end of the bath; We hug when daddy comes home from work; these are necessary predictabilities in an overwhelming world, and deviation from the pattern can prove pretty perilous for everyone involved.
     While Catholicism does not necessarily address interaction to quite that level of detail, I have found religion to be a comfort in marking both important and trivial life events.  When I decided on a life partner, I really wanted to celebrate the occasion with my family and community, in a way that was both solemn, but joyful.  There is a ceremony for that.  When Amani was born I wanted to present her to the world in a way that both cherished her as a precious entity, and initiated her as a member of the human family.  There's  a ceremony for that too. There's  a ceremony for just about everything.  If you need event planning ideas, the Catholics can definitely get you started.
     Recently, my friend's husband died.  It was sudden, and left my friend to care for her baby girl without a partner.  We were all shocked and frightened.  What do we say?  What do we do?  How can we help?  There were no words true enough to express our feelings.  There were no actions that will bring peace.  So we did the only thing we knew: we had a ceremony.  The ceremony that our ancestors had prescribed and shared for millenniums   We sat together and mourned.  We read words from the wise and listened to songs that might lift our spirits.  We reflected on our own lives, our children, and our spouses.  We were grateful for another day.  We remembered that his was not the first death, nor will it be the last.

     In her book To Dance with God, Gertrud Mueller Nelson points out how ceremony and tradition make an event both special and ordinary.  They create a space that both allows for the sacred and the commonplace. They create point through which we celebrate the individual, but also join with the whole of human experience.

     Now there has been this terrible atrocity in Newtown, right at the time when the Catholic Church reflects on God's presence during a time of darkness, cold and desolation.  What do we do? How do we go on when it seems like everything is pretty much just...terrible...forever?  We light a lot of candles, and sing a lot of songs.  We reflect on what happened and where we are headed.  (The Catholics are really big on reflection.)  We try to be extra nice to people, and eat a lot of chocolate.  We remember that under the barren, cold, joyless surface, there is promise- within the world and within each person.  Somehow, by singing songs, and making cards, and making an effort to bring a smile to loved ones, I reminded that there is a sacredness to life, and I am comforted that I am not alone.
     I want Amani to know that this world is not just meaningless wasteland.  I want her to be able to have markers throughout her life that remind her to reflect on who she is, where she is going, and the role she is playing within the Body of Christ.  I want her to know that she is not alone, and that there is a path that she can follow, both when things are happy and sad.  

I mean- how could anyone possibly navigate on their own.

Do not practice theology while operating heavy machinery.

     So I have been reading this book by Tim O'Connell, Principals for a Catholic Morality.
     And when I say I have been reading it, I have been reading it in the way that one might read a book that has been sitting on their bedside table since high school and yet he or she has only reached page 70.
     That kind of reading.
     It is a good book, but it covers 2000 years in the history of moral theology in the first 19 pages.
     And then it starts to get dense.
    You could seriously reflect on any single sentence for weeks at a time.
     And during that time you might get distracted and start reading Harry Potter.

     Anyway, I though that maybe if I start blogging about some of the more interesting sentences it might help me stay focused.
     The book begins with the idea that theology is the constant interpretation of God's continual revelation.
     Were you able to get through to the end of the sentence?  Because if not, I totally understand; this book definitely has that effect on people. I get towards the end and I am like "Okay, long word, long word, blah blah, blah...I wonder what I will make for dinner..."
     And that's even when it is saying something as exciting as "God's continual revelation".
     That's not a direct quote, of course, because typing the direct quote would immediately make me go to sleep.  But despite its inscrutability, it is a refreshing idea:
     We are always learning about God.  Time and cultures change, and we are always needing to figure out what to do in new situations.
     That's what it means, and it is so nice to hear.  It flies in the face of all this "eternal and unchanging Word of God" nonsense that conservatives use to fight against social issues they don't like.  (Truthfully, if you were to press them on it, they know the Word of God changes at least SOMETIMES. Very few people consider it a sin to wear garments of mixed fibers, for example.)
     So what does that mean ultimately?  It means that, if we follow Tim O'Connell's  ideas about theology, then we need to THINK about God, and the universe, and what it all means for our daily lives, then make decisions for ourselves, in our time and our situation.

 I can tell you guys are excited about this as I am.
Those of you who are awake, anyway.

Okay.  Next paragraph...