A Sense of Advent

What are some of your early sensory memories of Christmas around you? What smells, sights, tastes, textures and sounds do you remember from your parents or grandparents, aunts, uncles and other family and friends getting ready for Christmas when you were a child?

Get ready, get set, WAIT!

Advent is the season of waiting and noticing and preparing.  This first week of Advent, write about what this liturgical season means to you. What do you do at church and what do you do at home to wait, notice and prepare?  Why do you do it?

Filled with Thanksgiving

This November, write about a Thanksgiving tradition or memory that you have.  You can write about as many as you like!

Here's your chance: Finish those Writing Prompts!

For those of you still tuning in, I wanted to say that though the Lenten writing project has come to a close, you can STILL post your writing on this blog for any and all of the writing prompts!  They are still open and can still be commented on.  Just...I won't be putting any new ones on for just a tiny break : )

If you haven't already, you can become a 'follower' of this blog (right hand column) and be updated via email every time I post a prompt or writing information (contests, calls for submissions, article links, etc.)  So for those of you who "didn't have time" during Lent (ahem...me), now is your chance to go back and write and post your writing!  Better yet, post it and then send your submissions to ruthellenm@hotmail.com and I will make sure to pass it on to Pastor Larry, who is compiling submissions for our 3rd volume of Spirit to Spirit.  Then you'll be published too!  Done & done.  And so easy.  According to Hemmingway, all you have to do is sit down at the typewriter...and bleed  ; )  Happy writing to everyone and may the spirit-filled muse kindle the passion that is already inside you!

Call for Submissions!

Congratulations to everyone who participated in this blog project by writing, reading and prayer!  This truly was an amazing experience for me and I hope it was for you too.  The Lenten writing project is coming to a close, but we will post prompts and writing news to this blog, so check back to see what opportunities and information we have for you.

Call for Submissions!
All who wrote in this blog or who are interested in writing, Spirit 2 Spirit has a book!  The third volume - a compilation of writers of many genres - will be published this fall and we need YOU (yes, you!) to submit your writing to be in the book.  Poetry, prose, nonfiction, etc. all genres are welcome.  Length is subjective (if it's more than 2 pages, let's talk).  This book is published by the writing group at Holy Spirit Lutheran Church in Kirkland, WA, but we would like to open it up to all writers interested in participating.  If you would like to submit your work, join our writing group or get more information, please email Ruth at ruthellenm@hotmail.com
Past volumes are available on Amazon.com and are:
Spirit to Spirit
Spirit to Spirit II

Happy Writing!  Blessings to all of you and the spirit who inspires you : )
 - Ruth Hanley

He is Risen!

Music is a big part of how we respond to the Alleluia of Easter.  Pick a hymn below to listen to, or link to your own favorite Easter hymn (I know some of you have some gems to share that I missed!) Write about how it strengthens and informs your faith and embodies the Alleluia of Easter

Widor's Toccata

Jesus Christ is Risen Today

Flash mob of the Alleluia chrous by the Philadelphia Opera Company

I Know that My Redeemer Lives

Now All The Vault of Heaven Resounds

Holy Saturday

Today is a day of waiting.  What do you do while you wait for Easter?  What do you think the Disciples did?

Good Friday

What are your reflections on Good Friday and how do you observe it?  You can write about what your reflections are on what happened on that day long ago or you can write about your personal experiences in observing it in your lifetime.

Maunday Thursday 2-fer

Maunday Thursday's prompt has 2 options to choose from to write about:
Fiction:
Write about one of the disciple's responses to Jesus on Maunday Thursday or write about how you would have responded.  Would you have asked Jesus to wash you from head to toe or insist that you wash Jesus' feet or would you have been analytical and discected what he said?
Non-Fiction:
What is an experience at a Maunday Thursday service that has informed your faith or impacted you?  Either through a footwashing or through communion or something else...write about it.

Spy Wednesday

Today is sometimes known as "Spy Wednesday" because the Gospel read at Catholic masses on this day is about Judas' betrayal.  Judas betrayed Christ for his love of money (there are other theories as well, but all value something else higher than Christ).  How can knowledge of the ways that YOU have placed earthly things higher than Christ lead you to an appropriate compassion for Judas - and likewise, yourself - and lead you to be stronger in your faith?  Or do you think that we should feel compassion for Judas?  Was his betrayal too deep?

Hearts to Serve, Hands to God

What is your favorite way to participate in the church service (if you are a pastor, what part of your role in the service is your favorite to carry out?) What is an insider's view of what it's like to participate in this way?  What do you see?  How does is service to others also a service to yourself and to God?  Have you been an usher?  Lector?  Served communion?  Taken communion?  Greeter?  Pick what you love and write about it.

Unconditional Love

What is an experience that you have had of God's unconditional love here on Earth? 

Palm Sunday

Here is another video this Sunday, of Palm Sunday Gregorian chants.  Meditate on your Palm Sunday service or read the story from Matthew 21:1-11 or use another resource that helps you understand the story further.  Write what comes to you or do a freewrite on Palm Sunday and see what comes fom that!  (note: a freewrite is when you write for a set time - the duration of the song - and don't lift the pen from paper (or fingers from keyboard) and write what comes, no matter how strange or irrelevant it may seem at the time.  When you get stuck, you can write 'I remember' or 'I think' and keep writing.  Then you can craft the beautiful chaos into something amazing.) 

List of Faith-Emergency Contacts...

List 15 people that you would like to call upon - or have called upon - to help you with faith questions and inspiration (assume that the Trinity will already be on another super-list somewhere else).  They can be people you've met, people in your family alive or dead, people in history, the Bible, perhaps even fictional characters.  List the people (and in some cases, who they are) and what how they would influence and/or help you on your faith journey.

Bible Artifacts

Bibles can be very personal. Sometimes a grandparent or great-grandparent will have a Bible with notes or clippings in it that give testement to the unique faith that they had. Do you or a loved-one have a Bible like this? Do you have a family Bible that is unique in this way? A third-grade Bible? Write about one of these, or you can write about all the different personalities of the Bibles - and the people, families or organizations that have owned them - that you've known

Dreams and Visions

Write about a dream, vision or other 'mountaintop experience' with God that you have experienced. Even and especially if it was just a small gentle whisper or inclination...

Psalms

Choose a Psalm and write about it - what it means to you or a new way of looking at it. Or, if you want, write a new Psalm-like piece yourself to the glory of God.

Switch-eroo

What do you think a character from the Bible's story would be like if they were the opposite sex? If Noah was a woman called to save all the animals and family from the flood, if Mary Magdeline was a male disciple, if Joseph were a young girl in a family of sisters...how do you think their story and/or relationships would change?

What's your favorite non-religious quote? Mine is Helen Keller's "One cannot consent to creep when one is called to soar" pick your favorite quote and back it up with theology to make it a religious inspiration as well. Just for fun ona Monday...

Sunday's Post: Chanda Mama

Rather than a picture this Sunday, here's a song by the world artists of Playing for Change.  A more joyful, harmonious sound I can't imagine.  So, whatever this inspires you to write, WRITE!!  Or if you just want to sit back and listen to joy, here's an incognito Alle-Shhhh! a little early ; )
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=I23Bkk92124

Here's an additional link to Playing for Change and how they are connecting the world through music: www.playingforchange.com

Mr. Wilson, forgiven

Write about a minor villan in your childhood - a grumpy neighbor, someone at church that always yelled at you for running in the Narthex, a grandma or grandpa that was strict with table-manners, someone that you saw from your kid point of view and thought that they were out of touch.  Use your compassion and adult point of view to understand their perspective.  Think Mr. Wilson from Dennis the Menace or the weekly unmasked crooks from Scooby-doo.  Someone that was "mean", but in hindsight, had another story to tell.

Counting Blessings

List 15 blessings that you are thankful for today.  Try to find the blessings that are in unusual places too...

Need

What can you learn about compassion from people in need?  Tell about an situation where you learned about your own compassion - or theirs - from someone who was in a position of need.

Sinners & Saints

Write about Martin Luther's Sinner/Saint dynamic within us all and how that helps you have compassion for others as well as yourself.  Which one are you nurturing?  Do both need to be nurtured in different ways?

Animal Teachers

Describe a lesson on compassion or strengthening of your faith that you have recieved from an animal friend.

Faith Conversations

Who is someone from the Bible (besides God of Jesus) that you would like to have a conversation about faith with?  What would you say and why would you pick that person?

The Face of Jesus

Popular Mechanics posted an article about Richard Neave (a medical artist retired from The University of Manchester in England & co-author of "Making Faces: Using Forensic And Archaeological Evidence"). He used three Galilean Semites' skulls from the time of Jesus and reconstructed what Jesus may have looked like using 3D imaging.  He came up with this portrait of what Jesus may have looked like:

Does this change your view of the 'Jesus' you have in your imagination?  How does forensically trying to reconstruct what Jesus really looked affect your faith?  Likewise, how do the white, European images of Jesus help or hurt your faith?

Omnipotence

Describe a place or time when you've felt insignificant, yet loved in the middle of an infinite universe by an omnipotent, loving God.

Mentoring the Spirit

Write about a time when someone spiritually mentored you or gave you some advice that helped you in your faith journey.  Who helped you and what did they say?

Gifted...

What spiritual gift do you have?  What spiritual gift do you wish you had?  What would you do with either one if you knew that you could 'move mountains' with it?  (sorry this prompt was late today!)

Any Questions?

What would you say to a teenager or young adult who was questioning their faith?  Write a letter or piece to support their journey in a loving way.

The Story of the Unknown Woman

Write about an unnamed or briefly-mentioned woman character in the Bible.  Elaborate on her story, recover the importance of story or even change her story and write about the impact that she had in the Bible.  (BTW, March is Women's History Month ; )

Listen Up!

Describe a time in your life when you felt that you were not listened to and/or taken seriously.  Write about how this disenfranchising experience can or did lead to helping someone else.

The Kingdom of Heaven Belongs to Such as These...

 

Sunday's prompt is a picture - What does this picture make you think about?  Write.

Church Kid

Lenten Writing Prompt #15
What is a role that you participated in the church as a kid - if not a church 'job' (acolyte, usher, etc.) was there a personality role that you seemed to fill?  If you didn't go to church regularly, what were your impressions of church as a kid?  How did this job, role, or impression shape your faith now?  (This is a broad question in order to be inclusive of all different backgrounds - feel free to take this prompt and run with it in the direction that you wish...)

Storytime!

What is your favorite Bible story and how has it affected or strengthened your faith? Do you have another way of looking at it?

Sunday Mornin'

Write about a typical Sunday morning (or pick one out that is memorable) whether it is at church or not.  Do you have any rituals that you may or may not be conciously aware of?  Is there something holy and/or a faith ritual that you do that is outside of church?  You can write this as a celebration of the rituals that you love or as a testemony of things outside the norm that are faith-filled to you. You do not have to be a churchgoer to answer this question - just write about your experience inside or outside of the "God-box" ; )

Dear Me,

Lenten Writing Prompt #13
Write a loving, compassionate, hopeful letter from 'you' now to yourself at a difficult time in the past.  You can go back as far as you want : )

Silence

Lenten Writing Prompt #12
In this era of background noise, comments, white noise, traffic, news and checing the insistent notifications from facebook, twitter, texts and/or your kids in the back seat of your car, how do you quiet your mind and be in a still place to listen to God?

Temptation in Perspective

Lenten Writing Prompt #11
Write about the Bible story of Jesus' temtation in the wilderness from one character's perspective: the temptor, Jesus, a passing animal, God, etc. etc.  Be as creative as you want.

Ghost Church

Sunday is picture-prompt day!  Use this picture to inspire a piece of writing: a little background on this photo has been borrowed for our prompt today with permission from photographer Scott Haefner, who specializes in taking photos of old, abandoned places.  His website is here: www.scotthaefner.com It is an English, Gothic-style Presbyterian church built in 1911 in Detroit, MI.  What does this picture say to you? 
(please follow this link to see the picture: http://scotthaefner.com/photos/favorites/2817/ )

Little Faith Reminders

Lenten Writing Prompt #10
Is there a religious object (cross, note, 3rd grade Bible, special tree, picture, etc.) that is meaningful to you and/or symbolic to you and your faith?  Perhaps it is something that is an heirloom or perhaps it is something new - what is its history with you and why is it special to you?

It's My Generation...

Lenten Writing Prompt #9
Pop culture has coined many generational terms - Baby Boomers, The Greatest Generation, The Man in the Gray Flannel Suit, Gen X, Gen Y, Millennials, Is there a perspective about your faith that you feel is unique to your generation?  What is it?

God's Laughter

Lenten Writing Prompt #8
Have you ever seen or experienced the laughter of God?  What do you think God's laughter would look like?  Feel like?  Sound like?  Is there an example of someone laughing, which reminded you of what God's laughter would sound like?

Self-Compassion

Lenten Writing Prompt #7
Write about having compassion for yourself.  You can use an example of when you didn't have compassion for yourself, or write about how you want to - what it would look like - or write about ways that you already show compassion for yourself.  Any way you approach it, write about self-compassion today.

Compassion

Lenten Writing Prompt #6
Write about a time when you were challenged to show compassion for another person or an animal, even though it may have been difficult for you.

Enough

Lenten Writing Prompt #5
Write about a time when you were worried about having "enough".  Enough love, enough resources, time, etc.  How did you resolve it, if you were able to?

Sunday's Bonus Prompt

The fasting and austerity that we may participate in during Lent takes a Sabbath day on Sunday.  For those of you that would like the continuity of posting each day - even on Sundays - here is a bonus prompt, which on Sunday, will be only a picture:

Take a moment to contemplate this picture and then write whatever comes to you.  Blessings to you on this Sabbath day!

Tips for posting in the Lenten Writing Project

1. It’s helpful to draft your work onto a word document before posting, just in case you encounter a glitch with the blog (not anticipated, but still) or press a wrong key, you can have a saved copy of your work!
2. If you have a long piece that goes beyond the 4,5oo character limit (approximately 1 word doc page, if it's an essay), you can divide your work into 2 or more comments (with a ‘to be continued…’ and ‘…continued’) and post both.   We really want to read what you have!
3. Sometimes you finish what you’ve written but may feel it’s too vulnerable or personal to publish.  Don’t let perfectionism keep you from posting, but if what comes out of your muse from the prompt is something that you feel is for your eyes only, that’s OK not to publish, of course.  The point is that you got some great inspiration from that day’s prompt and you finished it!
4. You can encourage and comment on others’ posts and you can also comment on the comments of others’ posts.  One thing that makes this such a great project is hearing support back and giving support to others. 
5. You can go back and write or comment on any prompt at any time.  There is no time limit on writing from the prompts.  You may have a piece that takes a long time to edit or you may not feel inspired or too busy that day.  Trying to write each day - even if what comes out isn't perfect or you don't feel inspired - is the discipline part of this Lenten writing challenge for those of you that are doing it this way.  Others are dropping in and writing when they want to and that’s wonderful too.  Either way that you choose to participate, I am so excited for the responses we’ve had so far.  Really great writing from everyone!

Dear Alleluia,

Lenten Writing Prompt #4
Write about packing your Alleluias away for Lent: write a letter to them as if to a friend across the miles.  Write a musing about where they go while they are packed away - do they wait paitently for us in a room?  An island? What they are doing while they are waiting?  How do you feel without your Alleluias, do you miss them or does their temporary absence help you focus on the Lenten journey.  This is meant to be a fun, fantastical thought-piece, so write about whatever inspires you about being Alleluia-less during Lent.

How do you picture the Holy Spirit?

Lenten Writing Prompt #3
There are many metaphors for the Holy Spirit.  Dove, Holy Ghost, breath, wind...write your thoughts about the Holy Spirit today using either a new metaphor that you come up with or write about the Holy Spirit using an old one that has helped your faith and understanding.

Happy Lenten Valentine's Day...

Lenten Writing Prompt #2
What does a 'Lenten Valentine's Day' look like amid romantic expectations, children's valentine's day parties at school, the pressure to binge on excess from so many different sources...the list goes on.  Do you fight it?  Or is there a way for that to exist side by side with fasting, praying and/or giving?

We Are Stardust

Lenten Writing Prompt #1:
Today we will hear the words from Genesis 'for dust you are and and to dust you will return'.  The song 'Woodstock' (written by Joni Mitchell), suggests that we are all also stardust.  Knowing that life on earth is finite, but also that we are each made of the same ancient molecular material that makes up the stars from long ago, how does this influence the way you would like to please God with the life you have been given?

Welcome to the 2013 Lenten Writing Project

For those of you who are wanting to get a jump-start on the Lenten Writing project, here is a prompt to get your creative juices flowing: How are you preparing for the season of lent?  What does the transition from Epiphany to Lent - the changing of the liturgical seasons look or sound like?