Greetings Beloved Friends,

The liturgical season of Advent (the 4 weeks preceding Christmas) begins this Sunday, December 3. I find the anticipation of Advent to be a wonderful antidote to the consumer-culture myth that Christmas is all about what we buy rather than what we believe. I pray you will unwrap gifts of hope, love, joy and peace over the coming weeks and resist the temptation to spend your way to the manger rather than pray your way there.

I know that this season holds many complicated emotions for folks. If you are experiencing a feeling of loss this holiday season - any sort of loss from death to divorce to job change to changing traditions - I hope you will join us for the online retreat, BALM for BLUE HOLIDAYS, on Saturday, December 9th. I can't emphasize enough how much I respect and admire Kim Langley who will be leading our time together. Together we will explore poetry, reflections, silence and journaling as part of the grief journey. You can join us for the live, online retreat OR later at your own convenience with the recording. Invite a friend and sign up today.

Here's a quick summary of what you'll find in this month's newsletter...

• Register NOW - Balm for Blue Holidays - December 9, 2023
• Spouting Off Blog: Miss Piggy, Chinese Food and Santa in Triplicate
• Prayer for the Season
• Gratitude for Book Donations
• Silent Retreats - Summer 2024 (Registration opens January 1)

If you know anyone who you think would find Whale Spouts meaningful, please feel free to forward it along to them. Thank you so much for helping to spread the word!

May your Advent season be filled with eager anticipation and abundant hope.

With strength for today and bright hope for tomorrow,

Sharon

Sharon Seyfarth Garner, Founder & Director

Belly of the Whale Ministries

sharon@bellyofthewhaleministries.net

ADVENT ONLINE RETREAT

December 9, 2023

Join us LIVE via Zoom

or LATER via recording

It is a joy to welcome Kim Langley, author of Send My Roots Rain: A Companion on the Grief Journey and founder of WordSPA (Spirituality, Poetry Appreciation) Ministries, as our guest retreat leader on Dec. 9. Kim has more than 20 years of experience as a retreat leader, executive trainer and spiritual companion. You will be deeply blessed by her wise and gracious leadership!

SPOUTING OFF BLOG

Miss Piggy, Chinese Food

and Santa in Triplicate

My very favorite Christmas tradition has always been the night we decorate the tree together. Because each ornament holds a bit of our family story, it feels like a gentle stroll down memory lane as we reminisce, laugh and sometimes shed a tear or two. We listen to John Denver & the Muppets Christmas Album and belt out Miss Piggy's line of the 5 golden rings - BaDum Dum Dum! (Click here if you want to listen for yourself!) When the music is over and the tree is decked, we order Chinese food and watch The Santa Claus. We may just know every line by heart! This is a quirky little conglomeration of activities, but I look forward to this tradition more than anything else every year.

But this year was different. It was the first time that we wouldn't all be together to decorate the tree and I was struggling to adapt to this change. However, with the help of creative children and the gift of technology, we tried a new twist on this old tradition. We gathered together virtually, opened ornaments and decorated our trees; all while listening to the Muppets and John Denver of course! It wasn't the same, but it was still good. We all ordered Chinese food and prepared to watch The Santa Claus together.

Well... let's just say, there is a learning curve to watching a movie together in three different locations. We tried the whole "everybody press start at the same time" approach which of course didn't sync things up properly. So we ended up watching the whole movie echoed in triple time! Not the smoothest start to a new tradition, for sure, but it was just that... a start. Next time we will figure out how to better use technology to our advantage with a movie watch party that has all our screens synced up together!

Our attempt at changing this treasured tradition was clunky at best. But we were still together. We laughed, reminisced a little and did what we could to adapt. It can be easy to hold on a little too tightly to "the way things were" and miss the chance to honor "the way things are." God is good and God is present amidst it all.

Perhaps you are needing to change some of your treasured traditions this year as well. I pray that even though the transition may be clunky, you will find creative ways to adapt and maybe even discover what will become a beautiful new tradition for years to come.

PRAYER FOR THE SEASON



Gracious God, light my path

as I journey with Mary and Joseph

toward Bethlehem.

Open the eyes of my heart,

and fill me with

an awareness of your presence

in all that I do, all that I say,

and all that I am.

Encircle me with your light.

Whisper to me in the silence. 



Slow me down,

and allow the candles

of the Advent wreath

to light my way.

Amen.

Mandalas, Candles and Prayer: A Simply Centered Advent by Sharon Seyfarth Garner, Upper Room Books, page 32.

Photo Credit: The picture is a collage of the four Advent mandalas that I colored using only pencil at last year's Advent study with the Women's Spirituality Group at the North East Reintegration Center.

GRATITUDE

This past Tuesday evening we began our 4-week journey through Advent at the women’s prison in Cleveland. Please hold us in prayer as we color and pray our way toward the manger together.

A HUGE shout out of thanks to all of you who donated funds so that each woman will have her own book to use and keep!!! I am truly overwhelmed by your generosity! Thank you so very, very much!!

SAVE THE DATES

SUMMER 2024 SILENT RETREATS

Registration will open on January 1, 2024!