Clergy from left, Deacon Amy Schmuck, The Rev. Lynn Finnegan, The Rev. Mary Ann Hill, Pastor Nicolé Raddu Ferry and Deacon Cynthia Biddlecomb, retired. Photo by Nate Limback/ladailypost.com
By DEACON AMY SCHMUCK
Bethlehem Evangelical Lutheran Church
I grew up in a secular home, that is to say, we did not practice faith in any way, and my limited knowledge of God and Christian faith and Jesus and prayer came solely from my paternal grandmother, an Irish Catholic “Granny” who taught me the Lord’s prayer, and the bedtime prayer for children, “Now I lay me down to sleep…” and she told me Jesus lived in my heart.
As a toddler, I pictured the Jesus of her wall hangings (blonde-blue-eyed white guy Jesus) residing in my chest, and that when my heart pounded hard, that was him!! My child-like faith beginnings continued to grow with picture children’s Bibles, even a record that read Bible stories along with it, but as far as what the church was for, and what it was like to be a part of a congregation, I had absolutely no idea. Worry not, dear readers. God had a hold of me all along though! I found “church” in my own way as a teen, and then shifted to adulthood in my faith along with my husband in an ELCA Lutheran congregation. One of the aspects of congregational life that I grew to love the most was the liturgical calendar of the church year, especially the seasons of Advent and Lent and how those seasons take the gathered people of God on a shared journey toward those high holy days of Christmas and Easter.
Imagine my surprise to learn that an Advent Calendar was not just about opening a window on the calendar to enjoy a “daily goodie” leading up to Christmas! My maudlin moody side of my self found great solace in the focus on dwelling in the darkness and shadows that are ever present in our regular human lives. This season encouraged me to be open to the growth and hope that can be found in those dark times. The Advent season worship services bring this forth in the form of our hymns, prayers, and scripture readings which carefully set a stage for a faithful journey. This journey brings us to the big celebration of the arrival of Emmanuel or “God with us” in the form of a vulnerable infant born into a world of people dwelling in darkness.
The Advent weekly themes seem to shift across denomination and order, but the following themes may be explored: hope, peace, joy, love, faith. Each week starting on Sunday, Dec. 1 this year, we light a candle on an advent wreath, and sing, pray, preach, and reflect on one of those five themes. The rhythm of this liturgical season offers a “settling down” in worship at a time when our consumer-driven culture tries to “ramp us up”. Intentional spiritual practices of prayer, scripture reading, and generosity in this season offer a counter-cultural down-shifting to dwell in shadow with candlelight, to search in darkness by starlight, and to seek hope in the hearts of one another.
As always, I invite you to join us at any one of the congregations the writers of this column represent for worship, song, prayer, and allow time in this Advent for hope, peace, joy, love and faith to grow and glow like a light in the darkness for you. We welcome you, just as you are, to share a time in which we prepare our hearts for welcoming the Christ child into our lives.
Editor’s note: ‘All Shall Be Well’ is a column written by local women clergy including ELCA Deacon Cynthia Biddlecomb, M.Div., retired (czoebidd@gmail.com); The Rev. Lynn Finnegan, Associate Rector, The Episcopal Church of the Holy Faith, Santa Fe (rev.lynn@holyfaithchurchsf.org), The Rev. Mary Ann Hill, Rector, Trinity on the Hill Episcopal Church (momaryannhill@gmail.com) and Deacon Amy Schmuck, Bethlehem Evangelical Lutheran Church (deaconamy@bethluth.com).