Tara: [00:00:00] Welcome to Holy Shenanigans. I'm your muse, Tara Lamont Eastman, pastor, podcaster, and practitioner of Holy Shenanigans. You might be curious what it means to be a practitioner of holy shenanigans.
Tara: For me, practicing holy shenanigans is paying attention to the holy or sacred happenings in everyday life. I'm so glad to have you along for this adventure that I call Holy Shenanigans podcast. Hi there friends of Holy Shenanigans podcast. This is Pastor Tara Lamont Eastman, and I am so excited for this season of Advent to bring some old traditions of mine. In to a new Church [00:01:00] community and to share their perspective on hope, peace, joy. tHis Advent, I am inviting friends from First Presbyterian Church of Jamestown to come and join me and have a conversation about the theme of the week.
Tara: And so the first week of Advent is all about hope. And so today I want to share a poem with you called Hope. And I hope that it is inspiring to you, and we'll hear from our special guest, Janita Byars, in a moment, on why Advent Hope is important to her. Hope seems as light as a feather, but sparks all good deep things that are yet to come. Hope is a glimmer of light in the darkest night. Even in the midst of chaos, hope is the new growth of a fig leaf or the [00:02:00] bud of a cactus plant growing slowly to remind us. The Jesus is nearby as the solstice draws near days grow darker and colder and a single candle of hope shines a single candle to wake us up to the promise given a single candle to stoke the cooling embers of the heart, a single candle to give confidence in what we hope for an assurance about what we do not see a single candle to do the heavy lifting and give us hope.
Tara: Hope, help me to be open to possibilities emerging. So as we begin this season of Advent, I greet Janita. Hi, Janita. Thank you so much for being with me today.
Janita: Well, thank you for having me here, as they [00:03:00] say.
Tara: All this month on Sunday mornings I'm going to be talking about , being open to these different aspects of Advent, opening up to hope or peace or joy or love. And I was so excited when I asked some members of First Prez if they would read these poems as part of our, ritual of lighting our advent wreath.
Tara: And you were so open to say yes. I'm so excited to know more about why hope is important to you.
Janita: Hope to me is, the first item on anybody's agenda in anybody's functional life,
Tara: Hmm.
Janita: Hope gives direction I really think whoever put the weeks of Advent in a particular order chose hope because they believe that as well, focusing on hope first, frees you up to put energy in other places,
Tara: it's moving for you. [00:04:00] It's energetic.
Janita: analogy to me would be an interstate highway. There's a place to go. There's a way to get there and you're gassed up and you have the energy and the understanding to take that journey. And if those aspects were missing could contribute to a feeling of hopelessness, aka depression, if you don't understand what the destination is, what your goals are, if they're not clear, or if the way to get there is blocked.
Tara: Yeah. Yeah.
Janita: And if you weren't quite sure you had gas in your tank, if you weren't quite sure that you had the energy, to follow through on your hope. I mean, you gotta have all three.
Tara: I Agree with you. I think that for faith and hope and love to be lived [00:05:00] out. Hope is the essential building block.
Janita: That's why it's number one.
Tara: nUmber one for advent and for you.
Janita: Yes, it is.
Tara: I love the metaphor that this is you know, the first Sunday of advent and it is the first candle. It's one single light.
Janita: It's all you need, right?
\ Two lights. then perhaps your pathway might be confusing because , you have two beacons calling to you. But you have to focus with regard to hope. I mean, it really has a target, it does not spread all over that landscape. , that candle pulls you, kind of like an insect, you become a little bee, or an ant, or a gnat, , drawn , to that flame.
Janita: So, yes, it just needs one candle, [00:06:00] and that, I think is symbolic of a whole lot
Tara: I think of how, folks talk about an intention, you know, when people set an intention for a day or even for a yoga class, right, what is the purpose of this time? And usually at the beginning of yoga class, they'll say, set an intention for this time, so that you are focused.
Tara: On that intention in that practice. And so as we begin this time of Advent, no pun intended, but I would hope that when folks hear this conversation and when they are engaged in those spiritual practices of Advent, that Advent gives us a space to say, Oh, this week, , I am going to have an intention.
Tara: Of hope. I am going to look for it and I'm trying to embody it or to share it. And I think there's something beautiful about spiritual practices that we can actually live [00:07:00] into. I think that's one of the things that's lovely about these seasons of the church year, like Advent or even Lent, because there's something that we can live into.
Tara: I mean, I believe we can do that every day in our lives, but having these pre set traditions or things that are part of. Our understanding as people are helpful for us to get there to travel to that.
Janita: That, I think, is the reason we need this tradition. We need help. We need to be reminded of some things. It's easy to get lost along that journey this time and this space. Is a quiet time, kind of in the midst of all of the clamor that, can go on commercially or out there in the community or within ourselves.
Janita: So this tradition of these four ideas settle us down, [00:08:00] settle us in and help us look at. Where we need to be.
Tara: Even if you look at the story of Mary and Joseph traveling, to Bethlehem, you know, following that star wouldn't have happened without hope. I mean, the fact that, Joseph said. Yes, Mary, I will have you to be my wife, even though that you're expecting a child that in itself is a hopeful story. And I love to put the words expectant advent together. It goes along the lines of those intentions, right. To live into this time, we're traveling forward to Christmas. With anticipation with expectation and an intention, hopefully of these four elements, hope, peace, joy, and love.
Janita: Yes.
Janita: Let me just say, because I am a hope advocate that I think of all of the four areas of focus, [00:09:00] the symbolism of the light is most meaningful when attached to hope or vice versa. , if you look at what light means historically to all peoples , whether it's daybreak or the clouds parting, you could put the word hope in that space.
Tara: Like hope breaks forth or hope dawns anew, right?
Janita: yes. So They are the same in my mind,
Janita: The other part that I haven't touched on about hope and the light and the candle is the energy that's happening when there is light. I mean, there's energy you know, the years people have asked me, define God.
Janita: And , I've thought about it a lot because I want to know how to express what I believe to other [00:10:00] people. And one of the phrases that seems to work is that God to me is the energy of the universe.
Janita: And that energy is most evident, most obvious, in the burning of a candle. It's symbolic of the force of creation, the force of right, the force that we tap into, or try to, but never, Limit it and never quite totally define it.
Janita: That energy is essential to hope.
Tara: Yeah, it is. The scriptures for this coming week point a lot to nature. In one of the readings, it refers to the fig leaf and the trees. Pay attention to nature, pay attention to the world around you. Be aware that, , hope is still an experience that [00:11:00] you can recognize in the natural world. it is something that even in the midst of cold and winter and feelings of, sadness or depression, that hope is still present.
Tara: Hope is still there. For me looking out into nature and even in the middle of winter, seeing signs of life. Whether it's , a mother deer and the fawn wandering through the brush, trying to find something to eat, , or the birds.
Tara: Flying around the house, you know, all of those things are a call for me to remember hope , and my favorite of Emily Dickinson, hope is a thing with feathers, I find that it's wonderful to see those intersections between poetry and scripture and the world around us and to, pay more attention.
Tara: And so , that's my intention, this advent. To really just say, [00:12:00] okay, I might not know exactly how things are going to work out, but this time my intention is my eyes open my heart open to hope. And so, Janita, I wonder if you might have a word of hope to share with folks who are listening today.
Janita: Well, I do think hope of all the four areas of focus is one that you can help other people grasp. I would say let's get back to that candle and that beacon and think of, it as a symbol of a goal, an idea, that will lead you.
Janita: Just the way a light has a beam, it helps you get there.
Janita: That pathway, it's, it's embedded that, beacon. And think that the last part of it is The belief that, [00:13:00] yes, I have the strength to do this. I have the understanding to make that plan , and carry it out.
Tara: Because most often when I'm looking for an answer for something, , it's a simple moment of. Well, maybe not so simple, but it's a moment of, letting go and saying, okay, where is the hope in this? Help me to find this hope, help me to find whatever hope, peace, joy, or love in this situation or, how is this circumstance calling me to, live into hope in a way that is courageous. I love literature and I grew up reading authors like Madeline L'Engle and C. S. Lewis And in the Voyage of the Dawn Treader. Lucy is amidst a storm, and she is trying to make her [00:14:00] way to the next thing.
Tara: And she's not quite sure how to get there. And this albatross flies overhead as she's sailing across this rough ocean. And the albatross shouts out to her somehow, have courage, dear heart. And that albatross and that voice is like that beacon of hope, like that candle that cuts through all of it. And she holds on to that , and those words courage, dear heart have been
Tara: something I hold on to as well and try to share with others
Janita: and we can, we can give hope.
Tara: we can. And so it is a gift , to be with you here today, to be able to have this lovely conversation about hope, but in such a practical, practical way, cause I know, folks that might be listening, maybe having a difficult time finding hope. But I, believe that as we talk about [00:15:00] it, as we take courage to wrestle with the hard things in life and still hold on to that light of hope that others will hear it and hold on to it too.
Janita: Amen.
Tara: Dear listeners, as I often like to say, dear hearts. I pray that this season of Advent will be one that begins with hope and builds from there. May you all be at peace, be well, and know that you are beloved. We'll see you next week for Advent 2, where we'll discuss peace.
Tara: I'm your Holy Shenanigans muse, Tara Lamont Eastman. Thank you for joining us this week for Holy Shenanigans that surprise, encourage, redirect, and turn life upside down, all in the name of love. This is an unpredictable spiritual [00:16:00] adventure that is always sacred, but never stuffy.
Tara: Thanks to Ian Eastman for sound production and editing. Also, thanks to you, HSP listeners for supporting our work with this podcast by way of www. buymeacoffee. com backslash Tara L Eastman