Notes from Nana Linda

The newest member of God's family

“You are God’s Work of Art” is a hymn we often sing on the Faith and Arts Sunday at LCH.  The message of the hymn was brought home to me this last Sunday when my youngest grandchild was baptized.  It happened to be Faith and Arts Sunday and the courtyard was full of art and craft pieces that the various members of the congregation had brought to share.  It is a great way for us to appreciate each other’s talents and grow closer as a congregation.

And then there was this tiny perfect baby, God’s work of art.  LCH was full of love and she was in the middle of it.  It was quite a Sunday and it turned out to be the perfect day to acknowledge the presence of a new member of our community.

We have so many new babies at the church.  We have two baptisms on February 27, one at the Easter Vigil.  I love a baptism, and especially a baby’s.  So I’m looking forward to a lot of happy times as we welcome in these young members.

Recently the Sunday school lesson was on Luke 9:46-48.  In this story the disciples argue about who will be first, who is most important.  The faith trait we concentrated on was humility.  How could I get the idea of humility across to first graders? 

Nana Linda's card showing I'm good at singing, knitting, and golfing

I tried something I’d done with older children, not sure if it would work with kids this young.  Each of us had a card with our name on the front.  Inside it was blank.  We passed the card around until each of us had someone else’s card.  Inside we all drew a picture of something that person whose name was on the front of the card was good at.  We continued until everyone had drawn on everyone elses card.  It was fun and got across the idea of thinking about the other person and how they could be first.  It also made for interesting conversations and discoveries since we had to ask each other about interests.  Even though these were 6 year olds, they really got into it. 

It’s amazing what can come out of these lovely children during a Sunday school lesson.

If Candlemas be fair and bright, Winter has another flight.
If Candlemas brings clouds and rain, Winter will not come again.

February 2nd was Groundhog Day/Candlemas.  Both these festivals have to do with hope.  With the storms that have been sweeping the Mainland this year, these images of hope are an important reminder that the year is turning, the days are getting longer and lighter, and spring will return.

Phil, not seeing his shadow

Groundhog Day is what we are more familiar with in America.  This is the day the famous groundhog, Punxsutawney Phil, is taken out of his home and all the people wait to see if he sees his shadow–meaning that it will be a late spring. Happily I understand he didn’t see his shadow and that means that spring will come early this year.  The idea of Groundhog Day comes from Germany where the farmers would watch the behavior of hibernating animals to see if they could predict how long winter would last.  Candlemas became the day to observe the animals since it is midway between the winter solstice and the spring equinox.

Candlemas Bells (Snowdrops) are a sign of hope

Candlemas is the older festival that falls on February 2nd.   It is 40 days after Christ’s birth and is the day Mary would have gone through her final purification after giving birth.  It is also traditionally the day Christ was presented in the Temple. This was the second revealing of Christ during the season of Epiphany. At this presentation Simeon declared him a light to the Gentiles. (The first revelation of Christ was when the Three Wise Men visited.)  Because Christ was seen as the light of the world, February 2nd was traditionally the day all the candles in the church were blessed for the new year.

Even in Hawaii where the weather doesn’t overwhelm us with winter, we need to remember that Christ is our light, leading us out of darkness.

My granddaughter harvesting lettuce from her container garden

My daughter and grandchildren just informed me that they are starting on a 5210 campaign.  This is a national initiative to prevent childhood obesity by establishing good habits.  The idea is each day to:

eat 5 servings of fruits and vegetables

have less than 2 hours of screen time (this includes TV, computer and iphone)

get 1 hour of activity

have 0 sweets and sweet drinks

My daughter’s family will encourage each other by having a chart where they can get gold stars for keeping on plan.  My grandson is sure his dad will lose because he drinks a lot of soda.  The children have a great attitude about their lifestyle change and seem to see it as an adventure.

I’m going to support them by having fruit as the Sunday School snack.  I can’t divert them from the snack table at church, but I can provide an alternative.  Ultimately they have to learn to make their own good choices and resist temptation.  In the meantime maybe they will motivate me to join them in 5210.

Number one radish

There is a song in The Fantasticks that complains about raising children as being unpredictable.  With gardening, the song goes, you know what you will grow by the seed you plant.  That is: plant a radish, get a radish.  With children, anything can happen.  That is certainly true, but one of the advantages of growing a child is you have input in their lives during their formative years.  You may not think they are listening, but they are.  They may not turn out the way you’d dreamed, but they can be pretty nifty people in their own right.  It’s not as predictable as radishes, but it can have surprising and wonderful results.

I recently got back from a week’s vacation with one of my daughters.  It was the first time in many, many years we had time to relate to each other as adults, not just as co-custodians of the grandchildren.  It took some getting used to.  We had to find a way to stop pussy-footing around each other, a way to get rid of power struggles left over from childhood.  Long talks over dinner and lots of listening and laughing helped.  By the end of the week I found that I have a friend who shares a lot of my history and many of my interests.  It’s quite a transition from parent-child to equals.

This is another reason to raise children.  They can be first class friends.

God, our Father

I’ve been thinking this Christmas season about how we have many different relationships with God.

There is God, our Father, architect of the universe, in charge, omnipotent, He-who-must-be-obeyed.  He appears a lot in the Old Testament laying down the law and testing us all.

Then there is God, our Mother.  She doesn’t show up as often but She is in the bible as a mother hen worrying over Her brood of chicks.  A couple of the readings the last two days have talked about Her gathering Her chicks under Her wings.  This is a more nurturing image, a God who cares for us all and is full of love and forgiveness.

God, our Mother

God, our brother Jesus, is more of an equal.  He is someone who understands us, was human, and gives us ideals to live up to and always encourages us to be our best and to help and love each other.

God, our Brother

.

.

.

But at Christmas we speak of another aspect, God as a tiny baby.  This is the time when we are encouraged to have special compassion for God, to take him into our hearts and nurture Him as He has nurtured us.  We feel a great protectiveness towards this helpless, fragile aspect of God.  We want to warm Him in the cold manger and to hide Him from Herod’s men.

Christmas is a gift.  It enriches our relationships with God and helps us explore God’s multifaceted nature.

May God, our Father, Mother, Brother, and Child, be with us all.

God, our Child

The 5:00 Christmas Eve Service at LCH is designed for families.  It is fairly informal and includes lots of carols for the congregation to sing and some music from the children in our congregation.  There were individual musical offerings from some of the children and we had a handbell accompaniment to Away in a Manger.

The Gospel by Candlelight

One of the highlights of the service is the lighting of candles while the congregation sings Silent Night followed by the reading of the Gospel by candlelight.  This year, before the candles, the children sang the first verse of Silent Night with hula gestures.  They were quite expressive.

Holy Infant, so tender and mild

After we all blew out our candles, the children returned to sit with their families during the sermon and the rest of the service.  My older grandchildren and a couple of their friends were entertained by loving my three month old granddaughter who seems to be an endless source of fascination to them all.  So as pastor Jeff was talking about our welcoming the Christ child into our lives these young ones were welcoming a baby into their lives.  Talk about concrete learning.

Sleep in heavenly peace

Our children continue to show us the way to a simple and joyous faith.  May we all be blessed with the Christ child’s presence this season and evermore.

Singing about The Jesse Tree

Every year our Sunday school children present The Jesse Tree on the four Sundays of Advent.  Two Sundays have already gone by but we have two Sundays still to go.  

Hand Bell Choir

This year we have hand bell choir accompaniment and the children are so eager to have readings I have to keep careful records so everyone has a fair chance.  Come join us at 9:15 in the nave and see and hear the faith of our youth for yourself.  

Hanging the Symbols

Reading the Stories

My dog Ivory

My dog died.  Ivory was the dog that was pictured in the blog, Made for Each Other.   She was 12 and 1/2 years old so you can not say she died too young, but a flaw in God’s creation is that dogs and humans have very different life expectancies.  So a dog at 12 and 1/2 is in her 80s.  It still feels too soon for her to be gone.  

,

My dog. Roy, and me

When I was 2, my family was given a Labrador retriever.  His name was Roy and he lived until he was ten.  He was a very important part of my early childhood.  I remember as a 3 year old feeling that I had three parent; Mom, Dad, and Roy.  If I was with Roy I was safe.  This, of course, drove my mother crazy.  

Most of my life I have had a dog.  My husband and I are looking at a time in our life when it doesn’t make sense to have a new dog since we will be traveling quite a bit.  I will make do with other people’s dogs and babies, who are even better than dogs.  But I will miss Ivory.  That is the other side of love; we leave ourselves open to pain.  

I think it was in a Country and Western song that I heard this image of heaven.  In heaven all the dogs you’ve ever loved are waiting to greet you as only a dog can.  I hope that’s true.

If you are looking for a board book about the nativity for a young child this Advent, I highly recommend   Who is Coming to our House? by Joseph Slate.  This charming little book is a favorite around our house.  Not only are the illustrations simple and beautiful, but the text is rhythmic and heartwarming.  I plan to get a copy for my newest granddaughter even though she is only two and a half months old.  Maybe I can get her cousin to read it to her!