My dear friend, I read and then re read, I stopped and I pondered. Your thoughts and the feelings behind your words about the liturgical calendar and how to start living it, gave me a happy heart. We get to…what a vital distinction. Grace freely given. I particularly appreciate the verse at the beginning which reminds me that each season or feast holds gifts of its own and being mindful of that is a big part of the equation. Thank you for the advice and instructions.
Thank you, dear one!! I'm preaching to myself in so much of this. When I started diving really deep into the calendar, I realized I was starting to miss the forest for the trees - so I have to continually practice re-aligning.
Lucy, this is SUCH a great question, and it’s something I regularly ponder after finding many SH friends here. With most liturgical living resources being geared toward the NH, and with so many of the traditions coming from the north, there’s a lot of dissonance that our southern hemisphere friends end up experiencing.
I would say - rather than collecting summer things to start, try collecting wintry things, and then see how they tell the stories of holy days.
This post that I shared on my Substack last year was written by the lovely Steph Ebert - she wrote a lovely piece about celebrating the Ascension in South Africa:
Also, although these aren’t specifically liturgical, the planners from Typoflora in Australia are wonderful resources to encourage seasonal living. It might be a helpful way to then graft holidays into the planner:
Thanks so much for the thoughtful reply! I'm in Australia and have been experiencing that dissonance, looking at how wintry things tell the stories of holy days sounds like a great place to start. I will also check out that post and those planners, thanks again!!
This line - we are looking for transformation not collection. I needed to read that because I tend to get caught up in the gathering and collecting and lose the energy to allow what I am learning and seeing and hearing sit in my heart long enough. So, I will go slow and steady. Thank you
I’m so glad this resonated with you, Juliann - I’m definitely sharing a lot of my heart here, as this is exactly what I struggle with, too! I get excited about gathering/collection, and easily lose sight of why I’m collecting. Working toward moving this from a museum-mindset to actual living is an ongoing process for me!
Bless you, Jody! The system I have is a little bit over-complicated and nutty, since I’m using it to store all my research, too - but re-imagining and streamlining is proving to be super helpful to me, too!
I can’t believe I never thought to keep the church handouts in my binder. I often save them for a particular song, then they float around my room until I give up figuring out what to do them them! Love this.
My dear friend, I read and then re read, I stopped and I pondered. Your thoughts and the feelings behind your words about the liturgical calendar and how to start living it, gave me a happy heart. We get to…what a vital distinction. Grace freely given. I particularly appreciate the verse at the beginning which reminds me that each season or feast holds gifts of its own and being mindful of that is a big part of the equation. Thank you for the advice and instructions.
Thank you, dear one!! I'm preaching to myself in so much of this. When I started diving really deep into the calendar, I realized I was starting to miss the forest for the trees - so I have to continually practice re-aligning.
Any tips for the southern hemisphere, where the seasons are opposite?
Lucy, this is SUCH a great question, and it’s something I regularly ponder after finding many SH friends here. With most liturgical living resources being geared toward the NH, and with so many of the traditions coming from the north, there’s a lot of dissonance that our southern hemisphere friends end up experiencing.
I would say - rather than collecting summer things to start, try collecting wintry things, and then see how they tell the stories of holy days.
This post that I shared on my Substack last year was written by the lovely Steph Ebert - she wrote a lovely piece about celebrating the Ascension in South Africa:
https://www.hearthstonefables.com/p/so-all-the-chorus-sang-of-heavnly
Also, although these aren’t specifically liturgical, the planners from Typoflora in Australia are wonderful resources to encourage seasonal living. It might be a helpful way to then graft holidays into the planner:
https://www.typoflora.com.au/planners-calendars
Thanks so much for the thoughtful reply! I'm in Australia and have been experiencing that dissonance, looking at how wintry things tell the stories of holy days sounds like a great place to start. I will also check out that post and those planners, thanks again!!
This line - we are looking for transformation not collection. I needed to read that because I tend to get caught up in the gathering and collecting and lose the energy to allow what I am learning and seeing and hearing sit in my heart long enough. So, I will go slow and steady. Thank you
I’m so glad this resonated with you, Juliann - I’m definitely sharing a lot of my heart here, as this is exactly what I struggle with, too! I get excited about gathering/collection, and easily lose sight of why I’m collecting. Working toward moving this from a museum-mindset to actual living is an ongoing process for me!
Ah, Kristin, what a teacher heart you have--this is lovely!
Bless you, Jody! The system I have is a little bit over-complicated and nutty, since I’m using it to store all my research, too - but re-imagining and streamlining is proving to be super helpful to me, too!
This sounds like a great project for today. I'm looking forward to seeing what I can gather.
Wonderful! I’m excited to see what you come up with!
I can’t believe I never thought to keep the church handouts in my binder. I often save them for a particular song, then they float around my room until I give up figuring out what to do them them! Love this.