Circling Through This Life

Today is December 6.  Many people around the world celebrate December 6 as St. Nicholas Day.   I don't ever remember not knowing that December 6 is Saint Nicholas Day.  I knew that our American Santa Claus has its roots in the very real St. Nicholas of Myra.  Growing up we didn't have a fireplace, so my sister and I didn't hang traditional stockings or put out our shoes on December 6th.  We did, however, lay out our own socks on December 24th.  Real socks. Not Christmas Stockings. That means they were little girl socks so not very big.  My other always put an orange in them and sometimes chocolate.  I didn't realize at the time that oranges and chocolate were very traditional St. Nicholas gifts. Are you familiar with the stories and legends surrounding St. Nicholas of Myra?  St. Nicholas of Myra was a real historical figure though not much is known about him.  One story is about how he gave coins to a poor widower for daughters' do...

We've entered into Great Lent.  Most people are familiar with the idea of "giving up something" for lent or fasting but Lent is also a time of increased prayer and almsgiving. I want to take just a moment to talk about increasing prayer. The other night at the Soup Supper and Talk my priest said that we can increase our prayers through repetitive prayers.  He specifically mentioned the Jesus prayer and the most simplest prayer of all "Lord have mercy". The Jesus prayer is "Lord Jesus Christ, Son of God, have mercy on me, a sinner." If you think in terms of mercy being "not given what you deserve" , then it might seem that our simplest prayer is just a cry to avoid punishment for sins.  That's more a judicial or legal term view. But the words in Hebrew and Greek that are translated into our English word "mercy" have deeper broader meanings.  The Hebrew word means lovingkindness.  In Greek the word is closely related t...

Today many people celebrate. People eat chocolate, send cute little cards, and plan romantic dates.   My family celebrates today as well but we celebrate something else.  Something much more special.  It's all about Love.  Eternal Love. 7 years ago on Forgiveness Sunday my family was received into the Eastern Orthodox Church.  My husband and children were baptized and the six of us Chrismated.  This took place before Liturgy and at Liturgy we had our first communion. Forgiveness Sunday marks the beginning of Lent.  During the special vespers service we transition into Lent.  It's a beautiful service. This year Forgiveness Sunday falls a little later in February.  On that day we'll remember that liturgically that is our anniversary. Today my husband and I will have a little date.  We'll eat steak and shrimp and watch an episode or two of Doctor Who.  (I'm thinking the Christmas Special with River Song sounds perf...

We’ve had a fun but busy weekend to celebrate a four day Labor Day Holiday break.  Honeybear took Friday off so that we had Friday, Saturday, Sunday, and Monday. Friday was game day and we got to try out some new games we recently received from USAopoly: Tapple, and Wonky: The Crazy Cubes Card Game. You’ll have to wait until the end of the month for my full review but I’m telling you we laughed and we laughed and we had fun. Over the weekend we also played some games we’ve had for awhile.  We always give the girls at least one game every Christmas.  Supergirl loves playing Yahtzee! but she especially loves the 50th Anniversary Doctor Who edition which btw, I discovered is also from USAopoly! Supergirl loves any dice game though but Yahtzee! and Farkle are her favorites.  She and I played Yahtzee! just the two of us and she won! While Supergirl and I tried to collect full houses made of 3 Weeping Angels and 2 Daleks, Daddy and Tailorbear tackled Sauron.  We h...

I grew up Catholic and we had prayers and creeds that we memorized but I didn’t really understand prayer.  As a young adult in my early 20s I attended a Bible Study group for the first time. I was struggling with Catholicism. I had never prayed with a group like that before. We each took turns praying out loud. It was very uncomfortable for me but l learned how to pray for others and I learned how valuable prayer was for *me*: how profitable it is for my soul and my salvation. I would like to say that after 20 some years I have a rich and solid prayer life but I still have long seasons of inconsistency. I pray every day or most days but not necessarily in a quiet meditative way. Many times it is short little arrows of prayer sent up while I am harried, rushed or stressed. As I’ve grown over the years and as my paradigm shifted my prayers have changed. I’ve been Orthodox just over 5 years now and I am learning about a richness and depth of prayer that I have never experienced bef...

1.  I have decided I like caviar.  It is a tradition in Russian style Orthodox churches to eat caviar on Lazarus Saturday.  I first tried caviar at a church function several years ago and so this was either the 2nd or 3rd time I have had it.  I'm fine so long as I don't think about what it is.  It's very salty and I think it's the saltiness that I like. It's very good spread on a slice of French bread. 2. While the Western Christian Churches celebrated Easter, the Eastern Orthodox Christian Churches (except those like in Finland who must follow the Gregorian Calendar), celebrated Palm Sunday. 3.  Holy Week is the most incredible, overwhelming, exhausting, exhilarating, fabulous and awesome week of the year. Each day has multiple church services.  I have never been to all of the services because there are something like 20.  Two services a day with some days offering three.  But I love this week! 4. We haven’t done any formal schooli...

Today, for most Eastern Orthodox Churches,  is Lazarus Saturday.  On this day we remember and celebrate how Jesus raised Lazarus from the dead.  This is a beautiful foreshadowing of the glorious Resurrection that we'll celebrate next week.  Traditionally, children are often baptized on Lazarus Saturday. Honeybear’s godson was baptized on Lazarus Saturday so each year I think back and remember that day. This year though, I really listened. I mean as in over and over again and printed out the sheet music.   Rejoice, O Bethany. Lazarus was dead. Four days in the tomb dead. Jesus told Martha stop lamenting because her brother would live again.  Then Jesus goes to the tomb and cries out Lazarus arise! And he did. I don’t think I’ve really truly grasped the depth of that miracle, nor do I truly understand all of the implications for humanity. This is a beautiful hymn for Lazarus Saturday. It is so beautiful that I had to write a blog post about it! ...

If you’re a regular reader of my blog then you might already know or remember that I was raised Catholic. One of the huge issues for me as a Catholic was the Sacrament of Reconciliation. It was very formalized and very intimidating. There were certain prayers that you had to say to the priest and then the priest might give you penance like saying 10 Hail Mary’s or praying the rosary.  Granted, I don’t recall ever having been given a penance like that but I was terrified of confession. I dreaded it.  I avoided it.  I did not feel good after it was over. I didn’t feel cleansed or healed. I felt frustrated at going through the motions of something that I did not understand. I went to confession less than a handful of times before I gave up on being Catholic in my 20s. I spent nearly 20 years as a protestant. I read more books. I studied more theology. I read more scripture.  Usually with the disgruntled Catholic lens covering my eyes. I was convinced, at least for a sh...

As I type this up my husband and three of my daughters are on their way to church. Today is a feast day.  It’s one of the 12 Great Feasts of the Liturgical Year. Some might think that today is all about Mary because today we celebrate the Annunciation.  The Annunciation is when the Archangel Gabriel tells Mary that she will bear a son and that He will save His people from their sins. Yes, Mary was honored.  Yes, she is blessed among women and she is a great example to all of us. She was humble and obedient. But this day points to Someone greater.  This day points to the One.  This is the day that acknowledges that the second person of the Holy Trinity is God incarnate. 

Sometimes I am so slow. Sometimes I am so forgetful. Sometimes I need to get bonked on the head by God. Faith isn’t just something you believe. It’s something that you live. Faith isn’t just something that your head acquiesces to. Faith is something that abides in your heart and is reflected in your life. Faith needs to be fed. Faith needs fuel to grow. How does one feed faith?  How do we get our faith to grow? Practice. By living and practicing our faith we receive the grace to grow. To an outsider, the Orthodox faith may be full of routine rituals that seem dead and boring but they contain an important key to growing your faith. The key to a living  faith is to do. Do the prayers.  Do the almsgiving.  Do the fasting.  Do the living that brings faith from the head to the heart and causes it to shine forth in your life. I forget that. I get lazy. I make excuses about the Wednesday and Friday fasting. I shoot up short little “Lord Have Mercy” prayers because ...

It’s Lent.  For us as Orthodox Christians it means lots of peanut butter. It’s a good thing that Turtlegirl loves peanut butter.  I think she might even love it as much as my  father did!  When you eat lots of peanut butter for 40 days or so you need variety, so here are 5 ways to eat peanut butter.  (Feel free to add variety by substituting other nut butters. I prefer almond butter myself.) 1.  By the spoonful! Ok, this isn’t one that I recommend but my father loved peanut butter. It had to be Jiff. No other brand would do for him. He would eat peanut butter by the giant spoonful. Turtlegirl loves peanut butter and like her grandfather she can eat it by the spoonful! 2.  During Lent we eat (or I used to eat and the girls still do) more oatmeal. Oatmeal is really easy to eat vegan.  One way to get some extra vegan protein is to add peanut butter to your oatmeal. 3.  I can’t do this right now because my body thinks apples are too many carb...

Many years ago my friend Charlotte was searching for a book about Pascha (Easter) to read to her young children. Not finding what she was looking for she wrote her own book.  Today Phoenix Flair Press is releasing Catherine’s Pascha .  Written by Charlotte Riggle and illustrated by R.J. Hughes, Catherine’s Pascha tells the story of celebrating Pascha through the eyes of one little girl.  The story begins at Catherine’s normal bedtime on Holy Saturday and continues until Catherine and her family return home from the Pascha celebration. We experience the joyous celebration of the Resurrection of Jesus Christ through Catherine’s eyes. Her excitement is contagious. The story is simple enough for young children to follow and engaging enough to delight adult readers. The illustrations are detailed and add multiple layers to the story making it fun to read again and again just to notice the things you did not see the first several times. I’m not just excited about this book...

Celebrating the 12 days of Christmas is more of a Western tradition than an Eastern Tradition; however, many American Orthodox Christians view the time from December 25th through (and including) January 5th as the 12 Days of Christmas. January 6th is the Feast of Theophany. In the West, January 6th is Epiphany. Epiphany is the visit of the Magi or Wise Men and some view it as the 12th day of Christmas ( Dec 26 would then be day 1).  Theophany is the celebration of the Lord’s baptism in the Jordan river and the revealing of Jesus as the Son of God. Liturgically the Orthodox church does not celebrate 12 Days. I think I read it is 6 Days.  I think the “Leaving Taking of the Nativity” is Dec 29 or Dec 30?  January 1st is celebrated as the Circumcision of our Lord and it is also St. Basil’s Day. For my family we love that celebrating the Incarnation of God can be stretched out.  Without the Incarnation, there could be no redemption but that is a meaty topic for another...

I’ve decided to combine the Random Five on Friday meme with the ABC Blogging meme.  I came up with Five Not So Random N Things. 1.  Nativity Fast ~  In the Western Church the four weeks before December 25 are known as Advent.  In the Eastern Church the 40 days before December 25 are called the Nativity Fast.  December 25th is The Feast of the Nativity of our Lord and Savior.  Yes, we all still refer to it as Christmas but I love that it is known as the Nativity. For me that helps keep a religious focus.  The fast is to prepare ourselves for the great feast.  2. St. N icholas ~ When thinking about Christmas it is hard to not think about Santa Claus. Santa means saint and Claus is short for Nicholas. Santa Claus but the American Legend of Santa Claus has very little resemblance to the very real man (whose life is shrouded in legend) who is known as St. Nicholas .  He was a Bishop of Myra.  His feast day is celebrated December 8th but h...

If you would have said to me 6 years ago, maybe even just 5 years ago that I would some day write a post sharing about my love of Eastern Orthodox Icons, you would have gotten an earful about the “graven image” part of the 2nd commandment and how wrong I thought the whole idea was. I’ve come along way, baby! It wasn’t easy though. I really wasn’t sure I could become an Orthodox Christian because I just didn’t understand icons or iconography or why they were important.  Why would I want to have these hanging in my house?  Do I have to kiss them?  Why? My very first visit to on Orthodox service was overwhelming.  The walls are covered in icons! There are three analogions (podiums).  The one in the center held a wreath with a cross. This wreath holds a teeny tiny fragment of the True Cross and I have since learned is only displayed at certain times.  The other two analogions are the left and right side as you look at the iconostasis.  When facing the ...

Did you see what I did with that title?  I really want to participate in Miranda’s Random Five on Friday and I also really want to participate in Marcy’s Alphabet Blogging! 1.  I missed the Letter E.  Don’t worry I’m working on an E post.  It just won’t post in the right order.  I really was striving to not miss a single letter during this round but life happens. 2.  I was going to blog on June 2nd about it being one year since my husband’s heart attack.  I could still blog about it right?  Just for now it is sufficient to remember how scared I was.  How scared my children were and how God ministered to us through the Body of our church. I filled with gratitude when I remember the phone calls, the visits, the meals, the support, the love and the caring, the prayers. 3.  I just had what feels like a flood of crew reviews!  I’m going to link them here in case you missed them.  (I have one more posting next week. Learning Wrap...

Over the past several days I’ve been pondering my own behavior in light of some behavior that I would classify as not being Christian at all.  I have to wonder; I have to ask myself, as I am judging another, how far do I fall from the standard? When I am disgusted, angered, or hurt by mockery (whether directed at me or directed at people I care about), I must ask, am I without sin?  Can I really cast the first stone? I’ve been asking myself how often have I failed to act with Christian Charity or Christian love towards my “neighbor.”  How many times have I laughed at a joke that was really mocking someone? How many times I have been the one to make or share a joke that really could have hurt someone?  Facebook can be a great way to connect with people. I have a love hate relationship with Facebook. I love that I can keep in touch with loved ones, both family and friends, who live so far away. I can stay connected to friends I care about but our lives move in diffe...

Two weeks ago both East and West celebrated the Resurrection of our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ.  Eastern Orthodox Christians use the term Pascha which means Passover. But whatever it is called it is my favorite holiday of the year! 4 1/2 years ago someone said to me that Pascha was his children’s favorite holiday.  The children even liked it more than Christmas. Yes, I was skeptical. Children who like Easter more than Christmas?  Really?  I could not, at that time, even imagine that I would like Easter better than Christmas and I’m an adult. Ha! Guess what?  My whole family declares Pascha to be the best and most favorite holiday of the year. I think that part of the reason we love the Pascha celebration so much is directly related to the fact that we spend so much time during Great Lent and Holy Week preparing, remembering and focusing (at least in theory) on our spiritual walk.  Though we celebrate with an awesome Easter Treat Hunt and a huge Agape Fe...

Pascha was nearly two weeks ago and with Pascha it meant the long fast was over. Tailorbear suggested I blog about “anything but tofu for dinner” but we really didn’t eat tofu this time.  Though in years past I would agree.  By this time it would be “Anything but tofu.” I’m not a huge fan of shrimp but I have discovered ways to make it tolerable. We ate shrimp frequently during Lent.  I’m thinking “anything but shrimp.”  We also ate a lot of fish and chicken.  When I suggested we have chicken stir fry for dinner two nights ago I was met with eye rolls, heavy sighs and “no please. Anything but chicken.” I hadn’t planned on serving fish, chicken or shrimp at all during Bright Week.  We’d have beef and pork.  Um, note to self.  There really is such a thing as too much ground beef. Lasagna Hot Dish followed by Cheeseburger Pie with Hamburger Gravy served on the third day? Guess what I started to say?  “Please, can we have anything but ground ...

This past week was Holy Week.  It is my favorite week of the year . We joke in my family that Holy Week is the week that we live at church.  It is during Holy Week and Pascha that we experience the longest services. It can feel like unending church services. Palm Sunday begins the week long remembrance of Christ’s  last week or His Passion Week. Holy Week technically begins during the Vespers service on Palm Sunday.   Except that my parish doesn’t do that service. I  just happened to read in my Palm Sunday Service book that during Vespers the bright colored cloths are changed to black.  It reminds me of Forgiveness Vespers.  During that Sunday vesper service we enter into Great Lent.  The bright gold is exchanged for the purple of Lent. Starting with Lazarus Saturday, which is a foreshadowing of the Lord’s resurrection and a foreshadowing of our own future resurrection, and ending with the Agape Vespers service one could spend up to 38 hou...