May 3 for 3 [2021]: Exhaling and Giving Thanks
What I've been up to lately plus work from other creators and cultivators who are helping us worship God, love people, and enjoy beauty - all arranged in lists of threes.
Tamara’s Note
Happy June, everyone! May has been a bad month for our family the past couple of years. I noticed a couple weeks ago I was holding my breath emotionally - just trying to get through the month without feeling too much anxiety or anything else. When I get in this place I also notice a resistance to beauty. Beauty invites equal parts longing and contentment. Neither of those pair well with trying to press the emotional pause button. Some days this month I’ve been fully aware all of these dynamics and couldn’t do a damn thing about it. Other days, like some I’m sharing here, I’ve been able to just receive the day, walk in it and through it exactly as it presented itself to me. I’m not sure how I’ll respond to tomorrow but I know that in some merciful mystery, Christ is not only present now with me but also ahead of me and behind me.
Now it’s June and I’m exhaling gratitude.
p.s., Here are a few of the moments I received with gratitude this month.
The Sixth Sunday morning in Eastertide is Rogation Sunday and this year was also Mother’s Day in the US. All of this adds up to a beautiful day for flowering the cross at Church of the Apostles. 💐
2. When your parents get to visit after not seeing each other for 7 months and bring your Aunt Lois’s perfect homemade cookies, you take photos of the cookies, naturally. (World-famous chocolate-chip, that family legend says won her husband’s hand in marriage and my never favorite Lemon Ricotta. Heavenly!) ♥️♥️♥️
3. This photo represents an entire saga of near-tragedy turned to beautiful, hilarious joy. The short ending is that BRIAN AND I ARE WELCOMING OUR FIRST GRANDCHILD! Kendra and Jordan are expecting their baby to arrive in December and we’re overcome with gratitude and random bouts of giddiness. (We get to shop for a GRANDBABY this Christmas!) Of all the sorrow from 2020 to now, God has given us some of our happiest moments as well. We take none of it for granted.
Here’s a video that will become a family treasure forever. (Might want a kleenex handy.)
Favorite Links
Monthly picks to help us worship God, love people, and enjoy beauty!
Worship God
I’m a bit of a late arriver to the David French fan club but am making up for it by reading every word. Much of his writing is social-political commentary, but he offers a timely word for the American church every once in a while. Here’s a great example.
Another voice I’m paying attention to on the daily, Rich Villodas on Sabbath-keeping and the Deeply-Formed Life.
A simple yet transforming prayer practice. (Elizabeth at Household Theology is one of my favorite recent blog follows.)
Love People
This podcast episode was a perfect start to my Memorial Day.
Bearing witness to another kind of memorial: “I am a survivor of the Tulsa race massacre. Two weeks ago, I celebrated my 107th birthday. Today, I’m visiting Washington, DC for the first time in my life. I’m here seeking justice, and I'm asking my country to acknowledge what happened in Tulsa in 1921.” –Viola Fletcher
Another sober memorial in May inspired this beautiful song.
Enjoy Beauty
May is Mary’s month and if I were ever to convert, this would be the reason why. (Is there ever a post I publish that doesn’t include a link back to Victoria Emily Jones?)
Member Areas
The welcome mat is out. Come on in!
1. A Sacramental Life Community - IN PERSON
We celebrated Eastertide, Ascension, and the coming of Pentecost by toasting the king, and wondered about remaining in wonder.
2. A Sacramental Life Daybook Meditations
We welcomed Pentecost with eight days of reflection from Henri Nouwen and yours truly on how the Holy Spirit empowers us to live in confidence as children of God.
Subscribe to A Sacramental Life Daybook Meditations to receive curated collections of Scripture readings, music, art, prayer, and simple spiritual practices to help you look, listen, pray, and do daily practices of worship, love, and beauty. You'll receive a daily meditation during Advent, Christmastide, Lent, and the Easter Octave and each Sunday for the rest of the year to help you pay attention to God's presence in both the silence, celebration, fasting, and feasting of the liturgical year.
3. A Sacramental Life Stories
I dove into the Stories deep end, sharing some of the most formative memories of my early life as a pastor’s daughter. More coming this month!
Currently Reading
From the Book Pile 2021 | See my giant reading list here.
Rules of Civility by Amor Towles
2. A Swim in a Pond in the Rain: In Which Four Russians Give a Master Class on Writing, Reading, and Life by George Saunders
3. Be the Bridge: Pursuing God's Heart for Racial Reconciliation by Latasha Morrison
Bonus Feature
A smile to take with you into a new month of being alive.