FRIDAY FAVORITES FOR PRAYER AND WRITING

Posted on by Lisa Deam

Welcome to Friday Favorites! In this 3rd week of Lent, we hope the following posts will be a blessing and an encouragement to you on your journey.

Love,

Lisa and Prasanta

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Lent, Week 3: An Image & A Liturgy via The Rabbit Room (a weekly series exploring themes of suffering and loss through music, story, and art)

History as a Lenten Discipline via Chris Gehrz (each moment in history is one more fiber of wood composing the Cross)

The Wondrous Mystery via Bruce Lawrie (the beauty whispering to me from wild places had been Jesus all along)

Charles Spurgeon Knew It Was Possible to Be Faithful and Depressed via Diana Gruver (his example can encourage believers who “walk in darkness”)

Ten Church Fathers to Start Off With via Ed Creedy (expand your reading — an introduction to writers of the Early Church)

Writing Advice I Took to Heart via Lori Hatcher (encouragement for writers everywhere)

FRIDAY FAVORITES FOR PRAYER AND WRITING

Posted on by Lisa Deam

Welcome to Friday Favorites! This week, we’ve rounded up some wonderful posts on the season of Lent and prayer in the night. We hope they’ll enrich your journey this week.

Love and blessings,

Lisa and Prasanta

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Lent, Day 3 via Art & Theology (an artistic and theological meditation for each day of Lent)

Why Christina Rossetti’s “A Better Resurrection” Is Lenten Food For 2021 via Holly Ordway (facing up to, rather than fearing, our weakness)

Ash Wednesday: Guided by St. Clare of Assisi via Shemaiah Gonzalez (how St. Clare can guide us through the season of Lent)

Night Vigil for Insomniacs via Matt Kappadakunnel (an ancient Christian practice and an aid during sleeplessness)

Give Rest to the Weary via Tish Harrison Warren (the prayer for those who are too tired to pray)

The Rabbi Sings the COVID “Blues” via Jeffrey Salkin (“There is a great cloud of unknowing. Sometimes, you just have to embrace it”)

FRIDAY FAVORITES FOR PRAYER AND WRITING

Posted on by Lisa Deam

Welcome to Friday Favorites! We’re happy to bring you these links by some wonderful writers and thinkers and hope they’ll add beauty and encouragement to your day.

Love and blessings,

Lisa and Prasanta

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“Tripping Over Joy” via Daniel Ladinsky (a poem)

Considering the Trees on Ash Wednesday via Isaac S. Villegas (an essay to help us prepare for Ash Wednesday)

The Gate of Heaven Is Everywhere via Fred Bahnson (is this what’s missing from contemporary American Christianity?)

Art + Faith: A Theology of Making, with Makoto Fujimura via The Trinity Forum (a conversation on the theology of the act of creating)

Calvin: Refugee and Pilgrim via Randy Blacketer (learn about the theology of pilgrimage via the life and writings of John Calvin)

7 Letters from Famous Authors Sharing Fantastic Writing Advice via Nicole Bianchi (find inspiration from these authors)

FRIDAY FAVORITES FOR PRAYER AND WRITING

Posted on by Lisa Deam

Welcome to Friday Favorites! We hope this day brings peace and that the following posts and poems lend encouragement and beauty to you.

Blessings,

Lisa and Prasanta

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Time to Heal via Jeannie Kendall (just as God never rushes, so your healing and recovery may take time)

Breakfast Epic via Brother Richard (a poem for your morning)

The Snowfall via Franz Werfel (a poem from a pre-Nazi Austria)

St. Brigid’s Cloak and Blueberry Jam via Charlotte Riggle (learn about St. Brigid, 5th-c. patron saint of Ireland)

Boundaries Breed Kindness via Chellie Wilson (protecting peace is a choice)

What do you journal about? via Anne Bogel (do you journal? read some new ideas here)

FRIDAY FAVORITES FOR PRAYER AND WRITING

Posted on by Lisa Deam

It’s time for Friday Favorites! Find prayer, hope, healing — and encouragement to keep writing and creating no matter your circumstances — in this week’s collection of posts and podcasts.

Wishing you all God’s blessings,

Lisa and Prasanta

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A Litany of Healing for a Time of COVID via Christine Sine (a prayer for healing during this time of suffering)

My Porch Is My Pilgrimage via James Laurence (a poem for shelter-in-place pilgrims)

Whatever Tomb You’re In via Tammy Perlmutter (although all may seem lost, your rescue is already in play)

Making Christians Great Again via Leslie Leyland Fields (“This leader is like no other. He bent like a slave to wash His people’s feet. He chose our lashes instead of His power…”)

Susanna Clarke on Piranesi, Illness, and Faith via Church Times (in this podcast episode, listen to Clarke talk about her novels and her struggles towards faith)

Writing Mistakes Writers Make: Relying on Perfect Conditions to Write via Cassandra Lipp (how to write when your circumstances change, you’re too busy, and so on and so on…)

FRIDAY FAVORITES FOR PRAYER AND WRITING

Posted on by Lisa Deam

Welcome to Friday Favorites! As we come to the end of another eventful week in an already eventful year, enjoy these posts that bring us poetry, the timelessness and constancy of God, and the pursuit of God’s voice.

Be well and be blessed,

Lisa and Prasanta

***

In This Place (An American Lyric) via Amanda Gorman (discover more poetry by the National Youth Poet Laureate who read at the inauguration)

“The Cup” / “Maundy” via Matthew J. Andrews (two poems that look ahead to Holy Week)

The End Which is Really the Beginning via David Russell Mosley (the planets, stars, time, and God’s time)

A Regime of Small Kindnesses via Jen Pollock Michel (on how we imitate the constancy of God’s care)

The Wonder of Truth: Caring for Words as an Act of Discipleship via Charity Singleton Craig (how do we, as Christians, commit ourselves to the pursuit of truth?)

Listening For God In The “Unquiet City” via April Fiet (learning to listen to and discern God’s voice)

FRIDAY FAVORITES FOR PRAYER AND WRITING

Posted on by Lisa Deam

Welcome to Friday Favorites! As we continue along in the first month of the new year, enjoy these posts and podcasts that will help set a good tone for living faithfully, creatively, and communally. Praying that 2021 will be a good year for all of us.

Love,

Lisa and Prasanta

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10 Fresh Ways to Read Your Bible in 2021 via Traci Rhoades (practical ideas for getting started or picking the Bible back up again)

What Are We Expecting in the New Year? via Ed Cyzewski (are we expecting to find God each day? or are we expecting the worst to happen?)

Homesick via Elizabeth Gatewood (finding home and rest in a community that is bound together in mutual concern)

Hospitable Hospitals and Space to Grieve What’s Lost via Lore Ferguson Wilbert (finding space to doubt, fear, and grieve all that has been lost)

And All Shall Be Well via Marjorie Maddox (a poem with no beginning or end)

Creating Courageously During Difficult Days via Shawn Smucker and Maile Silva (how should creative people engage with culture during these difficult days?)

FRIDAY FAVORITES FOR PRAYER AND WRITING

Posted on by Lisa Deam

Welcome back to Friday Favorites! The new year has gotten off to a bit of a rocky start, but we hope you will still find joy in Jesus, in your faith, and in community. We find community partly through listening to one another and sharing our experiences, and with that in mind, we hope you’ll enjoy the roundup of posts below.

Love,

Lisa and Prasanta

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Pray Every Day: Isaiah 10 via Mary DeMuth (on this podcast, Mary prays us through the Bible every day; today, listen to Isaiah 10)

Keep Your Lights Up via Aarik Danielsen (a plea to leave your Christmas lights up for as long as you need)

The Gate of Heaven Is Everywhere via Fred Bahnson (perhaps the contemplative tradition is what’s missing from American Christianity)

Yeats’ The Magi (and a poem of mine) via Malcolm Guite (to mark Epiphany, listen to Malcolm read Yeats’ poem)

On the Streets Where They Lived via Eleanor Parker (the more you learn about the history that’s all around you, the more companionship you will find)

Resolved to Write a Nonfiction Book This Year? Let’s Do the Math! via Ann Kroeker (you can write your book this year)

FRIDAY FAVORITES FOR PRAYER AND WRITING

Posted on by Lisa Deam

Happy Friday, everyone! For Friday Favorites, we have a collection of Advent posts for you to savor as we wait the last, long week before the Christmas feast. We wish you a joyous season and all of God’s blessings.

Love,

Lisa and Prasanta

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A Global Advent Calendar via#AdventWord (join an international community in prayer to explore the mystery and wonder of Advent)

Wait of Glory via Nichole Woo (an Advent prayer based on Luke 3:25-38)

God Struck a Match via Maggie Wallem Rowe (what happened 2000 years ago was revolutionary–incendiary, even)

Advent and the Burning Bush via Phoebe Farag Mikhail (a Coptic Orthodox Advent tradition and the mingling of cultures)

Advent and the Trees via Rob Ebbens (a poem and reflection on the weight of waiting)

Mary, Martha, and My Holiday Kitchen via Carlene Hill Byron (kitchens, baking, and doing what matters)

When God’s Work Feels Too Small & Slow via Emotionally Healthy Leader Podcast (Advent doesn’t feel very hopeful or expectant this pandemic year…)

FRIDAY FAVORITES FOR PRAYER AND WRITING

Posted on by Lisa Deam

Welcome to Friday Favorites! Click the links below to explore poetry, Advent resources, and gratitude as we continue our journey through the season.

May God bring light into your darkness.

Lisa and Prasanta

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Turning Darkness into Light: A Soft Shroud’s Folding via Emily Polis Gibson (Rowan Williams and the beauty of Advent)

Untitled via Trischa Goodwin (a poem)

The Advent Project via Biola University (a daily devotional series celebrating the Advent season through art and Scripture)

Advent Calendar via Visual Commentary on Scripture (discover an artwork each day during the Advent season)

12 Tiny Things to Grow Gratitude in Your Home via Ellie Roscher (small practices to grow gratitude)

10 Best Books to Buy a Writer for Christmas via K. M. Weiland (writing-craft books for the scribbler on your list–or for you)