epiphany: a Christian festival held on January 6th in honor of the coming of the three kings (magi) to the infant Jesus Christ; a moment in which you suddenly see or understand something in a new or very clear way. (Merriam Webster)
The Three Kings by Richard Hook
There are two kinds of King's Cake. We opted for the French Galette des Rois as it's heavy to almond flour. Vive la France!
I'm really struggling with the pink plastic baby in the cake. It's not working for me. I'm going to have to put in a little bean next year. It tastes great, but we ran out of eggs for the beautiful crackle crust. Sis even checked the coop this morning, but the chickens are on holiday!
When the flute players
couldn’t think of what to say next
they laid down their pipes,
then they lay down themselves
beside the river
and just listened.
Some of them, after a while,
jumped up
and disappeared back inside the busy town.
But the rest–
so quiet, not even thoughtful–
are still there,
still listening.
It's winter.
Winter tempts,
the soul.
Discontent seeps, in cracks, on pockets of cold.
Give into darkness.
New birth stirs, on dark night. In the world's heaving soul,
the womb leaps.
Darkness encasing the Light. Light encasing the darkness.
The questions are ever present, they circle around, and come back again. How to create solitude and rest in a world that is always on? We seek stillness.How to get there? The path leads to powering down after the dinner hour and dishes are away. Lit flames glow, imparting rest and stillness. We play games, pray, read, and prepare the mind. Renew.
In turning off the lights, we see the Light, and each other, enveloped by darkness. The curve to the end of the day, tender, as the sun rounds the horizon.
On the eighth day of Christmas my true love sent to me: Eight
Maids a Milking Seven Swans a Swimming Six Geese a Laying Five
Golden Rings Four Calling Birds Three French Hens Two Turtle
Doves and a Partridge in a Pear Tree
I'm continuing my series on The Twelve Days of Christmas. As I shared previously, Brian McLaren pushed me to ponder how I might put the Twelve Days of Christmas into action. On the eighth day after Christmas, I'm not milking a cow, but we'll explore some moo.
I do have to share, that as J and I talk budgets, I work at my writing, and we talk and work towards Safe Families and new year priorities, we've been asking each other, "how much skin do you have in the game?" This is not a normal phrase at our house, but we keep circling back to it, sometimes testily. As I pondered this post last night, I couldn't help but laugh and ask him whether the eighth day ought to be all about breast feeding. Hey, it fits with all things milk, and well lots of skin is in that game! Alright, just teasing. Let's moooooove on.
Heidi of the Swiss Alps also comes to mind, and she makes me think of Swiss and Belgian chocolate (Fyi, Belgian is the better of the two. Sorry Heidi). So let's talk chocolate, because eight maids a milking in the French speaking Swiss Alps are certainly making chocolat au lait. What else would they do?
Lausanne, Switzerland
Many years ago, when I was here, we took a windy mountain road trip here.
Photo from Maison Cailler
We ate a lot of chocolate, and you should know, Swiss Nestle is very different from American Nestle. They are a world apart in taste, because I dare to venture, the Swiss have more discriminating palates than the Americans. Tis' true.
Watching the video, I was shocked to see the tasting room has completely changed. It's a boring white and brown, not milk brown, but not a deep dark brown either. I think that boring room keeps chocolate consumption down. Wanna bet some chocolate on it?
When I visited Callier 20+ years ago, the tasting room was filled with golden chandeliers and tiered white laced tables covered with golden platters of glorious chocolate. In those golden days, you were given 1 minute to consume chocolate. Yes, 60 seconds to eat as much chocolate bliss as you wished. But! When your 60 seconds was up, the very strict Swiss ladies standing guard over the tables bid you adieu. Their very stern statures spoke, "Don't even think about one more bite. Back away from the chocolate." I don't think anyone challenged them, and our group was comprised of 30 perpetually hungry and broke college students. We ate a lot of chocolate in 60 seconds! Ah, for those long ago days, when chocolate was not drawn from lip to hip. While, we didn't gain weight and there was no admission fee to Cailler, we paid in other ways.
The ride home was as miserly as the strict Swiss ladies. Yours truly, hadn't eaten breakfast that morning. I was planning ahead. No breakfast meant more room for chocolate. I don't think I ate a pound of chocolate, but I might have come close. A few of the guys ate well over a pound of the deep dark stuff. It seems to me, I got down 12-15 pieces, but who counted? I'll never forget the ride back to Lausanne filled to the brim with chocolate on a previously empty stomach. To this day, I have no problem enjoying a tiny bit of chocolate at a time.
So as you can see, the eighth day of Christmas really is about giving the gift of chocolate to someone you love. We're getting a jump on Valetine's, and I'm quite sure Jesus would be supportive, and if He's in, I'm sure Heidi and the Swiss ladies would endorse giving au chocolat. In Switzerland, you'd of course be required to give Swiss Milk Chocolate, but I wish for you to receive the gift of whatever kind of chocolate you find delish, and to give in kind. Do remember, some of us are deep dark chocolate purists, but we can all get along in 2015. Chocolate and world peace sounds perfect.
For those with milk allergies, dark chocolate and marzipan is a great gift. Marzipan often saves the day at our house. Especially with sister, whose sweet tooth must avoid milk. Now, back to our maidens. I'm sure they'd encourage you to give the gift of chocolate, but they'd also encourage you to think about other moo oriented gifts.
Give a goat or water buffalo through Heifer International this year. Heifer is the gift that keeps on giving because cows keep on having cows, and goats keep on having goats. A family receiving the gift of an animal through Heifer, pledges to share the offspring with others in their community. This maiden and her farm hands love Heifer. Our kids help raise money to give an animal and in exchange, they receive a very small stuffed plush to represent the animal they gave.
I get their little plush animals at a small independent toy shop. The independents do a good job of stocking Gund plush animals. I've tried to encourage the small toy stores to set out Heifer catalogs beside their plush animals. Can you help me in this? Give the gift of Heifer animals in 2015 and then give a small plush animal to your loved one as a reminder of the gift. It will bring a world of joy, and sustenance.
Ivory Coast farmers taste chocolate for the first time.
During my time with YWAM Lausanne, we went to Budapest and another large city on the African continent. We stayed on the grounds of a monastary/orphanage and we took chocolate for the boys in the orphanage. We threw birthday parties for them and played games. We practiced the gift of hospitality, and yes, we learned that a gift as small as chocolate can be powerful.
A bit closer to home, the moo in our fridge is a menagerie these days. When the kids were young, we bought organic, but then we moved back to Oregon and all milk was mandated rBST free. We felt more comfortable switching to Alpenrose Dairy and other local brands. But this year, we once again went Oregon organic. We buy a 1/2 gallon of whole milk each week and make SCD lactose free high probiotic yogurt for sister. The boys and I, drink organic skim by the gallon. I buy organic lactose free for C. Have you ever looked at the label of lactose free milk that is not organic? Yikes.
On this 2nd day of January 2015, pull up a chair and share a glass of milk with someone you love. Add a little Ovaltine and a homemade chocolate chip cookie and you've a feast of comfort and joy on the eighth day of Christmas. But, look at that! We wound our way around to milk and chocolate again.
Below is my basic chocolate chip cookie recipe. I eat them for breakfast when no one is looking. These days, we are eating more Paleo/SCD cookies. In fact, I made my first batch of homemade "Lara Bars" last night.
Kim's Healthy Chocolate Chip Cookies
I dump, blend, and add a little lactose free milk to make the batter soft. The flax meal is an oil, but it takes baking, to get it to respond like an oil, hence the use of milk to get the batter scoopable. You can also use coconut, rice, or almond milk. A super simple recipe, it takes me about 8 minutes to make this batter, if that.
1/2 cup of soft butter (or coconut oil)
aprox. 1 cup of brown sugar, a bit more is fine if you like.
Oven to 350 degrees. Mix the butter and sugar first, then add the eggs. Dump in the rest of the stuff. Mix and add milk to make the batter like consistency you want. Bakeabout 8 minutes.
Here's to strong bones and strong spirits in 2015! Take your Vitamin D and drink your milk!Bake cookies, pray, eat and give chocolate, and Bon Appetit!
On the sixth day of Christmas my
true love sent to me: Six Geese a Laying Five Golden Rings Four
Calling Birds Three French Hens Two Turtle Doves and a
Partridge in a Pear Tree
I'm continuing my series on The Twelve Days of Christmas. As I shared previously, Brian McLaren pushed me to ponder how I might put the Twelve Days of Christmasinto action. Today, I ponder geese and a wild God.
Six geese a laying. Six geese a
birthing. Six ganders partnering with six geese, guarding young and birthing life. Cooperative spirits in a wild land. They are
wild migrating noisy spirits, honking their approval and
encouragement.
They fly intentionally. They fly
formally. One never carries the high winds alone for long before
dropping back. Another will step up to shoulder the burden. He who is rested moves up to where winds rage strong. They trade off the
highest winds and coldest air. They commit to togetherness, no
matter the cost. A sick, weak, or wounded comrade will be escorted by
two geese to the ground. They wait with the gander or goose
until she or he has recovered or died. They commit in birthing. They commit in dying. A sancto insulam tres.
Insula Sancta
Iona Abbey, island of Mull. Ii-shona. Picture by Oliver Bonjoch (Wikipedia)
The Celts likened God's spirit to wild geese. Migrating, even today, the committed gather at Iona Abbey, and take the spirit of Iona back to homeland and hearth. The spirit of Iona: craftsman who minister and ministers who craft. Poverty and mankind meet, living out the wild Spirit through hands and feet.
Here
I Stand
by Iona
Here I stand, looking out to sea
Where a thousand souls have prayed
And a thousand lives were laid on the sand
Were laid on the sand
Years have passed, since they have died
And The Word shall last
And the wild goose shall fly
Shall fly
Here I stand, looking out to sea
And I say a prayer
That the wild goose will come to me
That the wild goose will come to me
Iona is pilgrimage. Iona is a living breathing cell. Discerning the Spirit is the present desire. Do I want to know, hold the wild Spirit of God within?
Like wild things in our world, how quickly we dispense of God, if He encroaches upon our realm. Like the farmer, whose grasslands border the wildlife refuge, who is forever chasing wild geese away, we chase God away.
We shoot Him out the sky, the stars, and the heavens. With feet bound by us, and His comrades gathered round, He says, "Father forgive them. They know not what they do." And the grave shall not hold Him. If visions be lacking, if prophecy be false, if
revelations be lost, it is because we no longer want God in our wilderness.
Sunday it's easy to pretend we seek a wild God, but maybe we are simply running from our demons. Some Sunday's the drums rage so very loud, I'm convinced the noise is the clanging bells of hell. Yet, as we run from our demons, God speaks. The One wild Spirit lives.
God of the stillness speak today. Your voice cannot be tamed by men. Your voice cannot be taught. Your voice cannot be bought. Your voice is found in wild places. Your voice is caught in the silent space between the storms.
On the third day of Christmas
my true love sent to me:
Three French Hens
Two Turtle Doves
and a Partridge in a Pear Tree
I'm continuing my series on The Twelve Days of Christmas. As I've shared previously, Brian McLaren pushed me to ponder how I might put the Twelve Days of Christmasinto action. Today, the third day of Christmas, three french hens are hard to find, but I'm exploring French traditions. It's cultural awareness, meets fire and baking, with some pondering in the mix. I'm exploring ideas and heading towards Epiphany with intentionality.
To begin, let's explore the French version of The Twelve Days of Christmas. Many believe, "the French folk song "La Perdriole" ("The Partridge") is a cumulative
song with the same kind of lyrics and a similar (but slightly different)
melody." (Wikipedia)Is La Perdriole the song that inspired the song?
As for baking, the French incorporate Buche de Noel into their Christmas traditions. This delightful pastry is often mistaken for the Yule Log. In fact if you do a search on yule logs, you will find Buche de Noel, but they are different. See below.
It would be very easy to make the above Saveur version gluten free/cream free by using coconut cream in place of the cows cream. We are going to give a gf/cream free version an attempt this week.
Give baked goods away this week? Post Christmas baking sounds less stressful and like a whole lot of fun!
For the baking challenged:
Beginning with the Celts, the Yule Log was traditionally burned to welcome the sun back to earth, and then later in the Middle Ages, to cure people of illness and drive evil away.
The French carried on the tradition of burning a special Yule Log, until it was eventually replaced with the Buche de Noel, as gas stoves replaced the fireplace. The Yule Log worked its way to the table as the sweet Buche de Noel, surrounded by evergreen boughs.
When the kids were very young, I used to decorate a special log and place it by our gas fireplace, but we've not done this for years. I'm thinking we need to revive the tradition and place a special log to burn in our wood stove. The walking/hunting time to find a yule log, and the calm fire time, can be used to discuss what spirits we want to fuel our home in the new year. Out with New Year's resolutions (which we've never done anyway) and in with a long family walk to discuss what matters most in the new year!
We are praying for the spirits of love, joy, peace, and patience, amongst others. As we endeavor in God this new year, we are asking for His Spirit to come without limit into our home, just as He's promised.John 3:34-36 MSG.
I'm also reminded of the need for wood by many. In rural areas, many still fuel their homes with wood, like us! Someone always needs wood. March is a good time to give wood away. Wood piles run low, and winter is not yet over. Have extra wood? Share some. Better yet, next summer or fall, order a cord of wood for someone in need.
Many French families display a creche in their home. They also personalize their family creche with santons, or "little saints" that represent the people of their village. I love the idea of personalizing one's nativity to one's own home and village.
Visit the Santon Festival in Marseille next Christmas? If not, here's two lovely options in Oregon: The Corvallis Nativity Festival and The Grotto. We were awed by the nativities from around the world at the Corvallis Festival. There were at least 200 creches from around the world. The kids were enthralled.
Or, begin a personalized creche/santons tradition in your home. We have several nativities, but none are personalized. I'm thinking about how we might make the manger more personal. With little kids, you might make your own nativity kit. I prefer clay or ceramic. Hmmm.... Maybe, I'll approach a local art center about helping us create some figurines in 2015.
Last night, we finished Richard Peck's, Season of Gifts.
It's a slice of Christmas cheer set in rural America, but the overall
message is that the best gifts are given throughout the year. Sister
also started Jan Karon's Mitford series this Advent. She began with Shepherd's Abiding.
Shepherd's Abiding and the St Paul Christmas video have me
pondering how we might bring the nativity alive next year. I'm thinking
of a one minute nativity randomly performed throughout town. Now, just
to rope another family or two into the process!
While, I love the idea of "elves for the twelves" in this series, especially for the kids, it's just not working for me. Maybe elves for twelves is a series for next year, or a stand alone story. I think the latter. For now, I'm going to stick with finding fresh ways to live out The Twelve Days of Christmas.
Not exactly three french hens, but who can resist this kid?
