Our Raucous and Rambling Rituals

"Behold, you desire true sincerity; and secretly you teach me wisdom."  Psalm 51:8 

We have the most slapdash family Lenten prayer rituals of anyone I know, sort of like our Advent traditions, without the fire hazard.  I do try hard to make Lent meaningful for our whole family, yet in the middle of the season it is hard to see any benefit from the effort at all.  And it is an effort. This year has been the most disorganized ever! Still, we stick to it, but I really do long for a tangible outward sign that sticking with our devotions is transforming our hearts to be like His.

One of our family Lenten devotions is praying the Stations of the Cross in our family room.  It is a raucous affair, as children climb on and over furniture to take turns reading the prayers written on paper plates with rudimentary drawings of each station hung around the room.   Like the candles during our Advent prayers, I wonder if the whole devotion is distracting, or worse, not dignified enough for such a solemn and profound prayer.  Can the deep and sacred mysteries of faith break through all the noise?  Maybe it is not helping my children sincerely desire to encounter Jesus Christ, Crucified and to look for Jesus Christ, Resurrected.  Maybe I should change course now, while their is still a little Lent left.

A 4 year old's drawing
of the 14th Station

Perhaps I could do something to bring about a more dramatic atmosphere.  I could play a reverent song like Via  Dolorosa before our prayers, to quiet us down and center us better (I hesitate to suggest this because my husband will just look at me like I am delusional, and point out that no one will be able to hear the music over the crying baby and fidgeting, sometimes fighting kids).

Even as I am ready to completely give up the whole thing and just go back to the fairly calm decade of the Rosary we pray at other times of the year, I spy my little boy Max, pointing to a station saying "Jesus," and them babbling a stream of baby talk that has the exact cadence as "We adore you O Christ and we praise you, for by your holy cross you have redeemed the world."  Amazing!

Amazing that he picked that up in the circus that is our nightly Stations of the Cross.  Amazing that even when nothing seems to be happening, grace, received by a baby, reveals the wisdom of our nightly devotions.  It is not in manufactured drama to increase superficial feelings of devotions and love, nor is it in perfectly performed prayers. The awareness of God, and of His saving love for us is the quiet, secret wisdom that opens little hearts and minds to God in familiar and sincerely done rituals and devotions.  In pondering this, something stirred in my heart, and a question arises, very much like the question God asks Elijah on Mount Horeb:  "Why are you doing these devotions?"  And instantly, I answer, "because I love you, Jesus."

And that brought to my mind the verse from Psalm 51.  It is our prayers that are offered with a sincere heart that yield the humble wisdom to begin to see truth in the mystery of the Way of the Cross, and to trust and love God enough to step into it.  I am strengthened by it, unknowingly, and so are my children.

So, the mystery contained in these chaotic, rambling, noisy Stations of the Cross devotions have an impact that is more profound than it seems at the moment.  Like so many things of God, grace is hidden in the messiness of life.  Like seeds in muddy soil.  The perception of something greater is aroused, and it is nurtured deep into Ordinary Time, long after the Lenten penances have gave way to Easter celebrations.  Our family will continue to faithfully enter into Lenten traditions and rituals because we love Him, and His grace remains with us.


And His grace works not by our power, but by His. God's work is more subtle, more intricate and much more powerful than the signs I want to see.

 

Peace and grace,

Heidi

Ice and Snow Praise the Lord

Frost and chill, bless the Lord; praise and exalt him above all forever.

Ice and snow, bless the Lord; praise him above all forever.

 Daniel 3:69-70 

 From the middle of a white hot furnace Shadrach, Meshach and Abednego praise the Lord.  And from the midst of snow and ice here in Omaha we also praise the Lord for the whole of creation that breaks forth before our eyes; in ferocity and terror and in splendor and beauty we praise the Lord.

 I went out in the snow today to help my husband shovel (really...I did shovel a little bit, but it is hard to shovel with a camera in your hand!)  Besides it was a perfect snow!  I had to help my daughter Sophia make a snow angel!

And trudge to the backyard shed to find the sleds.

And have snowball fights, (actually I just had snowballs thrown at me!)

     

In the glory of the winter snow our litany of praise continues, but with a decidedly childlike focus!

For delicious snow bless the Lord; praise and exalt him forever!

Brothers and sisters bless the Lord; praise and exalt him forever!

For no broken bones bless the Lord; praise and exalt him forever!

For perfect snowman /snowball snow, bless the Lord; praise and exalt him forever!

For the tracked, trampled and piled snow in our yard we bless the Lord;

for the camera that was pulled unharmed from the snow (I dropped it) we bless the Lord;

for the warm fire that was crackling when we were done with our fun, bless the Lord!

Give thanks to the Lord, for he is good, for his mercy endures forever.
Bless the God of gods, all you who fear the Lord; praise him and give thanks, because his mercy endures forever!   Daniel 3:89-90

Peace and Grace,
Heidi

NOT sitting in Santa's lap!!!

What to do when you dress up the kids for that special picture with Santa and they categorically REFUSE to even go near him!!!!("Never like it! Never never ever!!!!") Well, after walking all around the mall and finally viewing Santa from a safe and non-threatening distance (from one level above), showing them all the children that are telling Santa what they want for Christmas and how safe and fun it was, we tried again. Knowing that e-mail was also an effective means of communicating with Santa, Luke was not convinced that this Santa's lap thing was necessary. Sophia was not going without Luke and since I have enough pictures of screaming, unhappy and terrified children in the laps of various seasonal characters (and Gepetto from Disney World) we whipped out the cell phone and snapped pictures of them near, but not too near Santa with all the pretty decorations in the background! It is already a favorite, because of the story it tells!