Kristin, thank you so much for this beautiful weaving of tradition and truth-centering. What a rich and deep celebration is Candlemas. The printables are lovely, especially the tags and prayer of Simeon.
The reminders you offered about having the right frame of mind about this season--as a Christian and a consumer--really resonated, especially these lines,
"the way I engage with the world around me affects the way I engage with God - if I foster the illusion of being independent of the weather and the world, I tend to foster an illusion of independence from Christ."
I appreciated your metaphors and whisper of ideas to look at the world differently, God's creation speaking at every turn. He is indeed 'speaking'--The spring peepers are noisy around here, and seem to be very early this year. It makes me happy to hear them.
Such a hope we have, God's promise of renewal, the same every year yet new each time.
Isn't it such a comfort to hear those spring peepers?! Oh Jody, I'm so touched by your kindness, as always...and thrilled that you enjoyed this. I often tend to find myself settling into complacency, and then it's easy to lose sight of the real foundation!
It's wonderful to remember that control, especially of nature, is an illusion: theater for the sake of comfort. I have a hard time with this one.
Your writing suggesting the connection between the inner life and the natural world also rang true. For me, this line struck the clearest:
"Come summertime, the hedgerows will be bursting with life, and sheltering foraging birds and their nests - but, for now, we see a glimpse of this future verdant activity. It makes me wonder what drab things in my heart, the obstacles that seem insurmountable, will someday give way - whether circumstantially, or whether through a change of perspective."
It makes me wonder what lessons I might receive if I made the time and left myself vulnerable enough to 'consider the lilies.'
Thank you so much for your lovely & thoughtful comment, Jennifer - I'm so touched to know you resonated with this piece. I'm right there with you, wondering what would happen if I actually stepped into vulnerability and looked to the lilies.
"Theater for the sake of comfort" - YES, how beautifully-worded!! I have a hard time with this, too.
Thanks so much for reading & sharing your illuminating thoughts here.
Beautiful essay Kristin -- so much information here and beautiful fine art and illustration. I adore your doves. Apologies for my absence here, friend. I've been in a deep-dive researching an ancestor and re-focusing my 'stack. Though, St. Matthias and his ax *might* resurface toward the end of the month.
Have I ever told you my great-grandfather was struck by lightning? In fact, he was. As a result our family has always been rather respectful of nature's power (and fury). Your snowdrops remind me of a photo I have of Karl Kuerner (subject of many of American artist Andrew Wyeth's paintings) kneeling next to his spring house to enjoy the emerging blooms. Karl was a large, stern German -- not the sort of man one would imagine dropping to one knee to enjoy Candlemas Bells. I just adore the image. ♡
Thank you so much, Jessica...I'm so thrilled you enjoyed. Please don't apologize a bit, my friend! I've been so absent, too (purposefully trying to re-align my screen habits), so I have a lot of catching up to do.
I did NOT know that your great-grandfather was struck by lightning...my goodness! How did he fare? That would certainly be a lesson for the generations to remember our place in nature's context. I'd love to see the photo of Karl bending to enjoy the Candlemas bells...how lovely. (Also, I LOVE Andrew Wyeth's work).
I love the turtledoves! And this entire exploration. I was home alone for a power outage after a heavy snow. It was actually so blissfully quiet. The dogs wake up at 5:30 so it was still very dark. I made coffee on the stove and read by candle light feeling so blessed by this little reprieve from modernity.
Thanks Adrienne, I'm so glad you enjoyed! Aren't those little reprieves so illuminating?! It always helps me realign the way I'm thinking about things. A quiet morning with coffee on the stove, candlelit reading, and the dogs sounds so lovely.
Last fall, when we lost power for several days (and I think flooded, too?), I remember reading Alison Uttley's "A Traveler in Time" by candlelight and then making scrambled eggs on the wood stove the next morning...it really made me pay closer attention to every little thing.
Stunning nature writing throughout this post! I'm spotting Snowdrops at the moment and it brings me so much joy and anticipation of the shifting season.
My children are now used to me lighting a candle during breakfast prayers each morning and for dinner in the evening. A visual celebration of Jesus being the light of the world ( with the added benefit of creating a cosy atmosphere). Enjoyed learning more about Candlemas, and your February calendar is delightful x
Aw, thank you so much, Ishah! What a beautiful tradition with your sweet kiddos - those visual reminders are so, so helpful.
I have a soft spot in my heart for those huge patches of snowdrops I see in photos of the UK...ours is just a little patch, but it carries a lot of delight with it! Thanks so much for reading and for your kindness.
The Nunc Dimittis is one of my favorite parts of our liturgy, but I hadn't really connected it to Candlemas. That's lovely to learn about. I enjoyed all of your reflections as always. It's sleeting snow here today, but we had sunshine this week and it was glorious!
Beautiful post—and artwork! I just always love your paintings, they are so calming!
This though- “ the way I engage with the world around me affects the way I engage with God - if I foster the illusion of being independent of the weather and the world, I tend to foster an illusion of independence from Christ.” really hit me and gave me something to reflect and remember in times I find myself falling out of synch with the environment around me! 🤍 we must catch up soon sometime!
Aw, thank you so much, lovely! I'm so glad you enjoyed the paintings...these Book of Hours pages have really been fun to work on.
I'm thrilled that blurp connected with you - I really feel it deeply, too. It's so easy to fall out of sync and feel more independent than I really am...and despite my love for incarnational and sacramental theology, I often find my instincts veering toward more gnostic, disembodied approaches - and forget how much my interaction with the physical world affects my soul and my faith!
Kristin, thank you so much for this beautiful weaving of tradition and truth-centering. What a rich and deep celebration is Candlemas. The printables are lovely, especially the tags and prayer of Simeon.
The reminders you offered about having the right frame of mind about this season--as a Christian and a consumer--really resonated, especially these lines,
"the way I engage with the world around me affects the way I engage with God - if I foster the illusion of being independent of the weather and the world, I tend to foster an illusion of independence from Christ."
I appreciated your metaphors and whisper of ideas to look at the world differently, God's creation speaking at every turn. He is indeed 'speaking'--The spring peepers are noisy around here, and seem to be very early this year. It makes me happy to hear them.
Such a hope we have, God's promise of renewal, the same every year yet new each time.
Isn't it such a comfort to hear those spring peepers?! Oh Jody, I'm so touched by your kindness, as always...and thrilled that you enjoyed this. I often tend to find myself settling into complacency, and then it's easy to lose sight of the real foundation!
Beautifully written. Thank you.
It's wonderful to remember that control, especially of nature, is an illusion: theater for the sake of comfort. I have a hard time with this one.
Your writing suggesting the connection between the inner life and the natural world also rang true. For me, this line struck the clearest:
"Come summertime, the hedgerows will be bursting with life, and sheltering foraging birds and their nests - but, for now, we see a glimpse of this future verdant activity. It makes me wonder what drab things in my heart, the obstacles that seem insurmountable, will someday give way - whether circumstantially, or whether through a change of perspective."
It makes me wonder what lessons I might receive if I made the time and left myself vulnerable enough to 'consider the lilies.'
Again, thank you.
Thank you so much for your lovely & thoughtful comment, Jennifer - I'm so touched to know you resonated with this piece. I'm right there with you, wondering what would happen if I actually stepped into vulnerability and looked to the lilies.
"Theater for the sake of comfort" - YES, how beautifully-worded!! I have a hard time with this, too.
Thanks so much for reading & sharing your illuminating thoughts here.
This is delightful! I especially loved seeing images of Candlemas I've never seen before.
I'm so glad you enjoyed! I really loved diving into the rabbithole of those old Candlemas paintings...there are so many gems!
Beautiful essay Kristin -- so much information here and beautiful fine art and illustration. I adore your doves. Apologies for my absence here, friend. I've been in a deep-dive researching an ancestor and re-focusing my 'stack. Though, St. Matthias and his ax *might* resurface toward the end of the month.
Have I ever told you my great-grandfather was struck by lightning? In fact, he was. As a result our family has always been rather respectful of nature's power (and fury). Your snowdrops remind me of a photo I have of Karl Kuerner (subject of many of American artist Andrew Wyeth's paintings) kneeling next to his spring house to enjoy the emerging blooms. Karl was a large, stern German -- not the sort of man one would imagine dropping to one knee to enjoy Candlemas Bells. I just adore the image. ♡
Thank you so much, Jessica...I'm so thrilled you enjoyed. Please don't apologize a bit, my friend! I've been so absent, too (purposefully trying to re-align my screen habits), so I have a lot of catching up to do.
I did NOT know that your great-grandfather was struck by lightning...my goodness! How did he fare? That would certainly be a lesson for the generations to remember our place in nature's context. I'd love to see the photo of Karl bending to enjoy the Candlemas bells...how lovely. (Also, I LOVE Andrew Wyeth's work).
I love the turtledoves! And this entire exploration. I was home alone for a power outage after a heavy snow. It was actually so blissfully quiet. The dogs wake up at 5:30 so it was still very dark. I made coffee on the stove and read by candle light feeling so blessed by this little reprieve from modernity.
Thanks Adrienne, I'm so glad you enjoyed! Aren't those little reprieves so illuminating?! It always helps me realign the way I'm thinking about things. A quiet morning with coffee on the stove, candlelit reading, and the dogs sounds so lovely.
Last fall, when we lost power for several days (and I think flooded, too?), I remember reading Alison Uttley's "A Traveler in Time" by candlelight and then making scrambled eggs on the wood stove the next morning...it really made me pay closer attention to every little thing.
Stunning nature writing throughout this post! I'm spotting Snowdrops at the moment and it brings me so much joy and anticipation of the shifting season.
My children are now used to me lighting a candle during breakfast prayers each morning and for dinner in the evening. A visual celebration of Jesus being the light of the world ( with the added benefit of creating a cosy atmosphere). Enjoyed learning more about Candlemas, and your February calendar is delightful x
Aw, thank you so much, Ishah! What a beautiful tradition with your sweet kiddos - those visual reminders are so, so helpful.
I have a soft spot in my heart for those huge patches of snowdrops I see in photos of the UK...ours is just a little patch, but it carries a lot of delight with it! Thanks so much for reading and for your kindness.
As always- what a sheer delight. Thank you for this!
I'm so glad you enjoyed it...it's a delight to get to explore all these things with folks like you!
The Nunc Dimittis is one of my favorite parts of our liturgy, but I hadn't really connected it to Candlemas. That's lovely to learn about. I enjoyed all of your reflections as always. It's sleeting snow here today, but we had sunshine this week and it was glorious!
The Nunc Dimittis is SUCH a beautiful prayer, isn't it?
I'm so glad you enjoyed reading...Candlemas is really a gem of a holiday. And YAY for getting some sunshine before all the sleeting snow!
Beautiful post—and artwork! I just always love your paintings, they are so calming!
This though- “ the way I engage with the world around me affects the way I engage with God - if I foster the illusion of being independent of the weather and the world, I tend to foster an illusion of independence from Christ.” really hit me and gave me something to reflect and remember in times I find myself falling out of synch with the environment around me! 🤍 we must catch up soon sometime!
Aw, thank you so much, lovely! I'm so glad you enjoyed the paintings...these Book of Hours pages have really been fun to work on.
I'm thrilled that blurp connected with you - I really feel it deeply, too. It's so easy to fall out of sync and feel more independent than I really am...and despite my love for incarnational and sacramental theology, I often find my instincts veering toward more gnostic, disembodied approaches - and forget how much my interaction with the physical world affects my soul and my faith!
Lovely piece, thanks. You have reminded me I really must pack away the nativity scene in my office now!
I'm so glad you enjoyed, thank you! I just recently packed up our nativity, too...and am finally taking down the twinkly lights today!