DAY 35 - EPIPHANY

Image by Tony Armstrong-Sly

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Gobnait

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A GREETING
I delight to do your will, O my God.
(Psalm 40:8a)

A READING
When they saw that the star had stopped, they were overwhelmed with joy. On entering the house, they saw the child with Mary his mother; and they knelt down and paid him homage. Then, opening their treasure chests, they offered him gifts of gold, frankincense, and myrrh.
(Matthew 2:9-11)

MUSIC


A MEDITATIVE VERSE
Satisfy us in the morning with your steadfast love,
so that we may rejoice and be glad all our days.
(Psalm 90:14)

A BLESSING
May the road rise up to meet you.
May the wind be always at your back.
May the sun shine warm upon your face;
the rains fall soft upon your fields and until we meet again,
may God hold you in the palm of His hand.
- traditional Irish blessing, found on Celtic Titles

VERSE OF THE DAY
When you send forth your spirit, they are created;
and you renew the face of the ground.
(Psalm 104:30)

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Irish postage stamp commemorating "Nollaig n mBan,"
a celebration of the work of women that takes place on Epiphany.

On this last day of our devotional, we arrive at the feast of Epiphany, which has traditionally marked the arrival of the Magi and their adoration of the child Jesus. In Celtic Christian tradition, however, Epiphany is also celebrated as “Nollaig na mBan,” when the work of women is especially lifted up, after the long Christmas season. Families gather and toast the women who keep their lives going. It spans all ages and generations. In parts of Ireland to this day, women are given the day off and men take care of the household. At the end of the day, the women come to church and hear a mass, at which they light candles for the three Magi. Traditionally, they then return home, and with their families eat what remains of the Christmas cake and burn the holly that has been with them through the days since Christmas, in an outdoor fire.

A Celtic tradition of the fifth and sixth century monks was to search out the place of their resurrection. This entailed voyaging in the spirit of ‘peregrinatio,’ the oar-less journey, that we have explored in other days. The sixth-century monastic Gobnait longed to find such a place for herself. She voyaged out in a boat with some companions and landed on the Aran Islands. She had been previously told by an angel that the place of her resurrection would have nine deer grazing. The apparition finally took place near the river Sullane in Ballyvourney, where she went on to found a monastic community. She is the patron saint of bees. With her bees she made honey, and even protected her community from occasional invaders by summoning swarms to act on her behalf.

The one Celtic Wheel of the Year festival we have yet to name is Lughnasa, which falls in the height of the summer and at the very beginning of the early harvest season, around August 1st. It marks the half way point between the summer solstice and the Autumn equinox. Lughnasa, like Samhain, Imbolc and Beltane, the cross-quarter festivals of the calendar, helps us to be conscious of the changing times of the land. Of the four festivals, Lughnasa is the most celebratory, the most alive with joy.

The music of Nadia Birkenstock was also featured on Day 1. In the youtube notes for today's track, she writes that she composed this melody “on my smaller harp, Iona, that I took into the forest, every afternoon, sitting in the shade on mossy stones. The melody fragment that first emerged when I sat down to write this was calm and confident, and in the essence, I think, this piece is about reminding yourself where your strength comes from in challenging times.” Composed during the pandemic, it can speak to us now in other ways. Making time to spend connecting with the earth, its beauty, its mystery and its power, is an essential part of Celtic spirituality. Paying homage to the Christ child happens when we take a walk and absorb the beauty of our surroundings, when we stop to watch birds and listen to the rustling movement of wildlife. The adoration we offer Jesus is our deep desire to fulfill God’s will for an abundant Creation. In these days of climate catastrophes, it is easy to become overwhelmed by what is not going right. By stepping out into the created world, the nature all around us reminds us of all that is still to be treasured.

As you go forward into the days of the Epiphany season, how can you hold all that is precious in Creation in your heart? How can you lean into the wisdom of the earth, knowing Jesus walks with you there?
Blessed Epiphany!

* * * * * * * * * * *

Today marks the end of the LC† Come Holy Darkness devotional project. Grateful thanks to all who participated, including all who commented on Facebook and wrote emails. It has been a rich blessing! Grateful as always to Pastor Steve Hoffard, Catherine Evenden and Henriette Thompson for their support. You can continue to access the devotions by scrolling to the bottom (on most devices) of any page and either seeing a list of previous dates there, or (in the case of mobile) by clicking on the banner heading at the top of the blog and scrolling down.

May the peace of the Christ child bless you this Epiphany and always.
See you in five weeks for Lent! - Sherry Coman

Image by Tony Armstrong-Sly

This devotional project is dedicated to the memory of Dagmar Weller, a longtime supporter of the LC† devotions.

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LC† Come Holy Darkness is a project of Lutherans Connect, supported by the Eastern Synod of the Evangelical Lutheran Church in Canada and the Centre for Spirituality and Media at Martin Luther University College. To receive the devotions by email, write to lutheransconnect@gmail.com. The devotional pages are written and curated by Deacon Sherry Coman, with support and input from Pastor Steve Hoffard, Catherine Evenden and Henriette Thompson. Join us on Facebook, and on Twitter. Lutherans Connect invites you to make a donation to the Ministry by going to this link on the website of the ELCIC Eastern Synod and selecting "Lutherans Connect Devotionals" under "Fund". Devotions are always freely offered, however your donations help to support extended offerings throughout the year. 
Thank you and peace be with you!

DAY 34

Image by Robert Cross

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Kevin

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A GREETING
Bless the Lord, light and darkness;
sing praise and highly exalt God forever.
(Prayer of Azariah 1:48)

A READING
In the time of King Herod, after Jesus was born in Bethlehem of Judea, wise ones from the East came to Jerusalem, asking, ‘Where is the child who has been born king of the Jews? For we observed his star at its rising, and have come to pay him homage.’ They set out; and there, ahead of them, went the star that they had seen at its rising. When King Herod heard this, he was frightened, and all Jerusalem with him; and calling together all the chief priests and scribes of the people, he inquired of them where the Messiah was to be born. They told him, ‘In Bethlehem of Judea; for so it has been written by the prophet.’ Then Herod secretly called for the wise men and learned from them the exact time when the star had appeared. Then he sent them to Bethlehem, saying, ‘Go and search diligently for the child; and when you have found him, bring me word so that I may also go and pay him homage.’
(Matthew 2:1-5;7-8)

MUSIC
This French carol sings about all those who are gathered around the infant Jesus.


A MEDITATIVE VERSE
By the streams the birds of the air have their habitation;
they sing among the branches.
(Psalm 104:12)

A POEM
The Word became fire, and now
burns within us – warming
hearts kindling the
thought that love becomes us – our
skin glistening hope.

The Word became dirt, and now
dwells below us – holding
us up, soul on soil, gracing
our grasses, grains, gardens;
all our eating now holy.

The Word became wet, and now
rains upon us, now
baptismal bath, now
living spring, now
we are sated with sacred
surging, pulsing, raging.

The Word became air, and now
fills our sails, our souls, our lungs
enlarging; this Word waits
upon us serving us breath, death
abated until the day our flesh fades into
a memory, a word, a poem.

The Word becomes us, making
us fit; it suits us, dressing us
with holy splendor, bending us
back again to our origin:
in the beginning, Word.
- "The Word Becomes Fire" by Rev. Dr. Allen Jorgenson
found on his blog, stillvoicing.

VERSE OF THE DAY
For the creation waits with eager longing
for the revealing of the children of God
(Romans 8:19)

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Murmuration of starlings off the Aberystwyth Promenade in Wales.
Video capture by John Davies, found on Instagram at @ajohndavies_photography


Kevin of Glendalough was a fifth-to-seventh century Irish monk who lived to be 120 years old (498-618). Like Cuthbert and some of our other saints, his life alternated between intense periods of hermitage and isolation and long periods of mission. He was a lover of nature and animals and his attributed miracles include them. One famous story told about him is of a time in his small hermitage hut when he was kneeling with his arms outstretched in prayer. A blackbird flew in and began to build a nest in his outstretched hand. Realizing what was happening, he stayed still so the bird would not fly off. They stayed this way for days and weeks, as Kevin did not want to disturb what was happening. The blackbird seemed to understand the sacrifice and fed him with nuts and berries in gratitude. Some versions of this story place it in Lent, with the last of the hatched birds leaving the nest on Palm Sunday.

Tomorrow our journey with the Celtic traditions and saints will end in the feast of Epiphany. The story of the wise (and very brave) Magi who journeyed from afar to meet the newborn king marks the end of Christmastide. The Magi understood that this marvelous infant was not just royalty in ways they understood, but the fulfilment of a prophecy and a prophecy of signs: the ‘star’ of a special radiance appears frequently in the Hebrew bible to signify something significant and in the New Testament as well. From Numbers (24:17) to Revelation (22:16), we hear about the special radiance of the heavens in association with the thriving future of God’s people.

The star of Bethlehem and its companion the night, are the same holy darkness and daylight, heavens and earth, that were visible to the Celtic saints, sitting in their caves, six hundred years later. The companionship of holy darkness and holy daylight have continued to guide those inspired to find and follow the stars of faith in the ages leading up to Jesus and in all the time since. Kevin gained renown as a teacher and his reputation grew. Over time the site where he once retreated into a cave became the home of a seminary that would educate some of the later saints of Ireland and finally serve as a pilgrimage destination. 

How can the fiery gases of a comet-like star ignite a passion in you for the work Jesus calls us to? What are the gifts you carry with you as you serve God in the world?

Image by Sean MacEntee

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LC† Come Holy Darkness is a project of Lutherans Connect, supported by the Eastern Synod of the Evangelical Lutheran Church in Canada and the Centre for Spirituality and Media at Martin Luther University College. To receive the devotions by email, write to lutheransconnect@gmail.com. The devotional pages are written and curated by Deacon Sherry Coman, with support and input from Pastor Steve Hoffard, Catherine Evenden and Henriette Thompson. Join us on Facebook, and on Twitter. Lutherans Connect invites you to make a donation to the Ministry by going to this link on the website of the ELCIC Eastern Synod and selecting "Lutherans Connect Devotionals" under "Fund". Devotions are always freely offered, however your donations help to support extended offerings throughout the year. 
Thank you and peace be with you!

DAY 33

Image by Tony Armstrong-Sly

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Ita

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A GREETING
O Lord my God, in you I take refuge.
(Psalm 7:1)

A READING
My steps have held fast to your paths; my feet have not slipped. I call upon you, for you will answer me, O God; incline your ear to me, hear my words. Wondrously show your steadfast love, O saviour of those who seek refuge from their adversaries at your right hand. Guard me as the apple of the eye; hide me in the shadow of your wings
(Psalm 17:5-8)

MUSIC


A MEDITATIVE VERSE
The Lord is the stronghold of my life;
of whom shall I be afraid?
(Psalm 27:1)

A POEM PRAYER
We, unaccustomed to courage
exiles from delight
live coiled in shells of loneliness
until love leaves its high holy temple
and comes into our sight
to liberate us into life.
- from "Touched by an Angel" by Maya Angelou

VERSE FOR THE DAY
But let all who take refuge in you rejoice;
let them ever sing for joy.
Spread your protection over them,
so that those who love your name may exult in you.
(Psalm 5:11)

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"Scorned of timber; beloved of the sky," by Emily Carr (1935)

The story of Ita is both famiiar and unique in the tradition of Celtic women abbesses. Like Melangell, Ita knew from a young age that she wanted to be a nun. But unlike Melangell’s father, Ita’s father had a dream in which he was told he must let her go. Ita was scholarly and eventually founded a convent in Limerick where women could find an education they might never otherwise have.

Young Celtic women of the sixth century knew the stories of the Celtic goddesses by heart, but often had few options in their own day to day lives. Christianity changed that, by opening up new alternatives. A convent in these early days was a way to leave the home and preserve one’s own internal sense of identity and destiny. But it was not an easy life. The women who chose it did so with the commitment of disciples.

Ita's convent at Killeedy (Irish for 'church of Ita') also became an important sanctuary for those who had been enslaved, as both Patrick and Brigid were in their early days. Ita took in mostly women and gave them a place to take refuge until they could become officially freed, participating in the negotiations to free them. She was the first renowned woman confessor, and was sought after for confession far and wide.

The convent Ita founded in Limerick became a hub for the growing number of women and men who were seeking vocational life. One of those who joined her was Brendan of Clonfaert (see New Year’s Day), the maritime monk who eventually left her monastery for his seven year journey to find the paradise island. Ita and Brendan had what was known as an anam cara, a soul friendship. Soul friendships were a deeply embedded tradition in Celtic Christianity. These friends upheld each other’s spiritual wellbeing, mentoring each other and offering support and encouragement.

In Psalm 17, we hear the psalmist ask God to be held as “the apple” of God’s eye. The ancient saying is believed to refer to the reflection of oneself that can be seen in another's eye when standing very close. Being guarded or held as the apple of God's eye is a symbol of how closely we are held by God. It can be comforting to know that God holds all of us as the ‘apple’ of God’s eye, that God sees in us a reflection of God’s love for the world and holds us very close. At the same time, we can hold the close people in our lives with the same kind of love, but also be prepared like Ita and Brendan to let them go when they need to.

Who are the soul friends in your life whom you hold like the apple of your eye? How much are you also able to let them go, as they live the lives they need to live?

Image by Tony Armstrong-Sly

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LC† Come Holy Darkness is a project of Lutherans Connect, supported by the Eastern Synod of the Evangelical Lutheran Church in Canada and the Centre for Spirituality and Media at Martin Luther University College. To receive the devotions by email, write to lutheransconnect@gmail.com. The devotional pages are written and curated by Deacon Sherry Coman, with support and input from Pastor Steve Hoffard, Catherine Evenden and Henriette Thompson. Join us on Facebook, and on Twitter. Lutherans Connect invites you to make a donation to the Ministry by going to this link on the website of the ELCIC Eastern Synod and selecting "Lutherans Connect Devotionals" under "Fund". Devotions are always freely offered, however your donations help to support extended offerings throughout the year. 
Thank you and peace be with you!

DAY 32

Image by Piers Nye

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Cuthbert

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A GREETING
Let me hear of your steadfast love in the morning,
for in you I put my trust.
(Psalm 143:8a)

A READING
Now when Jesus heard this, he withdrew from there in a boat to a deserted place by himself. But when the crowds heard it, they followed him on foot from the towns. When he went ashore, he saw a great crowd; and he had compassion for them and cured their sick. When it was evening, the disciples came to him and said, ‘This is a deserted place, and the hour is now late; send the crowds away so that they may go into the villages and buy food for themselves.’ Jesus said to them, ‘They need not go away; you give them something to eat.’ They replied, ‘We have nothing here but five loaves and two fish.’ And he said, ‘Bring them here to me.’
(Matthew 14:13-18)

MUSIC
Sung in Welsh, Suo Gan is a lullaby in which a mother reassures
her child that although night is falling, all is well.


A MEDITATIVE VERSE
Teach me the way I should go,
for to you I lift up my soul.
(Psalm 143:8b)

A PRAYER
In the darkness we can see the
splendour of the universe - blankets
of stars, the solitary glowings of the
planets. In the darkness the wise
three found the star that led them to
you. In the darkness of dreams you
speak to your people
As day begins to fade, let treasures
of dark draw near.
You called Cuthbert out of the
darkness of night to be the Fire of
the North.
- found in "Pilgrim Prayers," a prayer resource
for those walking the St. Cuthbert's Way

VERSE OF THE DAY
I would feed you with the finest of the wheat,
and with honey from the rock I would satisfy you.
(Psalm 81:16)

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Osprey catching fish. Found on the Instagram page
of Mark Smith Photography @mark.smith.photography

Today's reading finds Jesus fresh from the news of the death of his cousin, John the Baptist. His natural instinct is to make space and time for his grief by going away in a boat "to a deserted place by himself." As we saw with Melangell yesterday, sometimes the gifts of leadership come with the deep need for time spent in isolation and prayer. Today's saint, Cuthbert, understood this.

Cuthbert was a seventh century Scottish monk who settled on Inner Farne island off the northeast coast of England, near to the Scottish border. There he built a dwelling facing away from the mainland so he could see only the sea. But Cuthbert was soon crowded out of it by those wishing to study with him. He was also unwillingly elected bishop of Lindisfarne. He agreed to take the job only after the king rowed out in a boat to persuade him. Cuthbert loved people but he loved his solitude equally. Most of his life was torn between these two passions.

Before that time and throughout his life, Cuthbert built a life in community with others. When he was on the mainland, he traveled extensively, teaching and listening. Then, when he was on the Farne Islands or on Lindisfarne, he reclused himself into his own deep desire for prayer. Lindisfarne is only accessible in low tides. Sometimes, when he missed the tides, he slept in a cave on the mainland.

Jesus is called away and out of his grief back into the ever-increasing community of disciples. From his attempt to get away, he is drawn immediately into the feeding of the five thousand. There are many stories about Cuthbert that focus on fasting and feeding. He fasted and trusted in others to feed him. He would fast on his travels so that any scraps he might find could be given to his horse. He taught the young boys he schooled to watch out for how God provides through the wisdom and guidance of animals. When once he and a boy who was assisting him were at the end of a long day of traveling without food, an eagle brought a fish to them. When the boy took the whole fish, Cuthbert instructed him to put half back for the eagle.

Sometimes in our lives, we are called into the work of building up the realm of God — when we had other plans. In these times, we may find ourselves making sacrifices: a relationship that must end, a dream that is forgotten, an ambition that must be set aside. Similarly, we also have times in our lives, when our goals are in sight, but life throws up a sudden barrier. We find ourselves reckoning the losses against the gains. The price for following God’s will — can be high. As we begin to draw closer to Epiphany, we can become more aware of the ways in which the work of being faithful in the world is always drawing us forward. Endings become beginnings, over and over. We can easily become mired in the past events which fixate us, but God waits with us in our fears, and is always ready to walk with us out of them into new life.

When we are listening to God, we can know that we are always on the right path, despite how far it might take us from what we had thought we would be doing. When were you forced to change your plans for something you didn’t anticipate? How did this change ultimately bring you closer to God?

Image by Tony

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LC† Come Holy Darkness is a project of Lutherans Connect, supported by the Eastern Synod of the Evangelical Lutheran Church in Canada and the Centre for Spirituality and Media at Martin Luther University College. To receive the devotions by email, write to lutheransconnect@gmail.com. The devotional pages are written and curated by Deacon Sherry Coman, with support and input from Pastor Steve Hoffard, Catherine Evenden and Henriette Thompson. Join us on Facebook, and on Twitter. Lutherans Connect invites you to make a donation to the Ministry by going to this link on the website of the ELCIC Eastern Synod and selecting "Lutherans Connect Devotionals" under "Fund". Devotions are always freely offered, however your donations help to support extended offerings throughout the year. 
Thank you and peace be with you!

DAY 31

Image by Robert J. Heath

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Melangell

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A GREETING
To you, O Lord, I lift up my soul.
(Psalm 25:1)

A READING
Wisdom teaches her children
and gives help to those who seek her.
Whoever loves her loves life,
and those who seek her from early morning are filled with joy.
Whoever holds her fast inherits glory,
and the Lord blesses the place she enters.
Those who serve her minister to the Holy One;
the Lord loves those who love her.
(Sirach 4:11-14)

MUSIC


A MEDITATIVE VERSE
Faithful friends are a sturdy shelter:
whoever finds one has found a treasure.
(Sirach 6:14)

A POEM
And it was the same as the day
she first stepped onto the sea,
handed herself to the waves

and to the will of God: brash sunlight
thrown back, the green earth
tipping under her feet. Not so much

bravery, not so much faith
as a small, dull light that scratched
into life in her chest, then grew

until she could not see around its edge.
Beyond, there was quiet. The hare
dropped its head to its paws, and slept.
- from "Melangell," by Anna Lewis

VERSE OF THE DAY
Strength and dignity are her clothing,
and she laughs at the time to come.
(Proverbs 31:25)

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Icon of Melangell, created by Denise Norman (2009)

Often when we hear of someone taking some time in solitude, we think of it as a transitory phase, a waystation in the larger story of a journey. We know that solitude can be a time where people clarify what God is saying to them and get in touch with their deepest longings and desires. But for some people, like the early seventh-century Welsh saint Melangell, solitude itself is a vocation.

The story is told this way. Destined to be married off by her father, an Irish prince, Melangell firmly resisted, already clear in her vocation to be a nun, despite that no convents as yet existed in Ireland. What she most desired was a place to live in solitude and pray. At the time, families depended on the bride price, like a dowry, that a young woman or daughter could bring. Especially for a prince, it was also a mark of status in the family to marry well. Melangell’s father was ultimately persuaded.

With no clear place to go, Melangell instead took herself into the wilderness, boarding a boat and landing in North Wales. There she lived on berries and whatever she could find among the plants and slept in a cave by the sea, for fifteen years. She lived alone in terms of human companionship, but she befriended, as so many of the monks did, the animals in the environment where she found herself.

One day a Welsh prince named Brychwel Ysgithrog, and some of his men, were hunting and chasing a large white hare that his hounds were close to catching. All of a sudden the dogs came to a standstill, and the prince beheld Melangell on her knees with her head on the ground, praying for the safekeeping of the rabbit, who hid under her cloak. When Melangell explained who she was and where she had come from, the prince was moved to give her land and money on which to establish her first convent. (He eventually also surrendered his own castle for another monastery.) Leaving her solitude was not easy, but remembering her one-time dream, she accepted the profound gift.

This tale is a shift from archetypal stories of princes and young women, in which the woman often ends up married to the prince and mistress of a large household. Instead, the ending of this story is a soul friendship between the Welsh prince and Melangell, and a deeply spiritual mutual respect and kinship in which each aided the other. Melangell went on to establish the convent of Pennant Melangell in County Powys in the north of Wales. Today she is considered the patron saint of rabbits and other small animals.

Sometimes we are called into solitude as a means to discerning next steps in the world, but sometimes solitude calls us, because it needs us to be there for an undetermined amount of time. In our own lives, we can be solitary, we can have solitude and we can be lonely, three very different things. No doubt Melangell experienced each of these. Ultimately, she chose to go into community and become the abbess of a small convent. She released her solitude for the sake of community, in order that what she held most dear in her heart, the gospel and witness of Jesus, she could share more widely, and share it with joy.

When have you been powerfully called into a time of solitude? How much are we able today to surrender to solitude without needing a goal to be obtained from it?

Image by Robert J. Heath

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LC† Come Holy Darkness is a project of Lutherans Connect, supported by the Eastern Synod of the Evangelical Lutheran Church in Canada and the Centre for Spirituality and Media at Martin Luther University College. To receive the devotions by email, write to lutheransconnect@gmail.com. The devotional pages are written and curated by Deacon Sherry Coman, with support and input from Pastor Steve Hoffard, Catherine Evenden and Henriette Thompson. Join us on Facebook, and on Twitter. Lutherans Connect invites you to make a donation to the Ministry by going to this link on the website of the ELCIC Eastern Synod and selecting "Lutherans Connect Devotionals" under "Fund". Devotions are always freely offered, however your donations help to support extended offerings throughout the year. 
Thank you and peace be with you!

DAY 30 - NEW YEAR'S DAY

Image by Helen@littlethorpe

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Brendan

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A GREETING
O send out your light and your truth; let them lead me;
let them bring me to your holy hill and to your dwelling.
(Psalm 43:3)

A READING
You cast me into the deep,
into the heart of the seas,
and the flood surrounded me;
all your waves and your billows
passed over me.
Then I said, “I am driven away
from your sight;
how shall I look again
upon your holy temple?”
The waters closed in over me;
the deep surrounded me;
weeds were wrapped around my head
at the roots of the mountains.
I went down to the land
whose bars closed upon me for ever;
yet you brought up my life from the Pit,
O Lord my God.
As my life was ebbing away,
I remembered the Lord;
and my prayer came to you,
into your holy temple.
(Jonah 2:3-7)

MUSIC


A MEDITATIVE VERSE
Praise the Lord from the earth, you sea monsters and all deeps.
(Psalm 148:7)

A PRAYER
Shall I abandon, O King of mysteries, the soft comforts of home?
Shall I turn my back on my native land, and turn my face towards the sea?
Shall I put myself wholly at your mercy, without silver, without a horse,
without fame, without honour?
Shall I throw myself wholly upon you, without sword and shield,
without food and drink, without a bed to lie on?
Shall I say farewell to my beautiful land, placing myself under your yoke?
Shall I pour out my heart to you, confessing my manifold sins and
begging forgiveness, tears streaming down my cheeks?
Shall I leave the prints of my knees on the sandy beach,
a record of my final prayer in my native land?
Shall I then suffer every kind of wound that the sea can inflict?
Shall I take my tiny boat across the wide sparkling ocean?
O King of the Glorious Heaven, shall I go of my own choice upon the sea?
O Christ, will you help me on the wild waves?
- "Prayer of St. Brendan," translated by Robert Van De Wayer

VERSE OF THE DAY
Let those who go down to the sea, and all that fills it,
-- roar, all the coastlands and their inhabitants.
(Isaiah 42:10)

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Florida Sandhill cranes in a mating dance. In Irish mythology,
cranes are associated with abundance and prosperity.
Video captured by Jeni Tirnauer.
Found on Instagrama at @jeni_tirnauer_photography.
You might try playng today's two videos at the same time.

Brendan the Navigator is one of Ireland’s most beloved saints and despite that almost all of the early Irish monks spent months at sea traveling to and from other islands and the mainland of Europe, Brendan is considered the maritime saint, and the patron saint of whales and dolphins.

In Irish myth of the fourth and fifth centuries, there was rumoured to be an island especially promised to the saints that would prove to be a paradise if it could only be found. Brendan experienced the visit of an angel one night who told him to look for it and that the angel would help him and steer him. Brendan took to the sea, with a number of fellow monks, and moved from place to place and island to island hoping to have found the promised place. It is believed he actually came upon a number of the same islands several times over. Throughout this time, Brendan and his companions remained devout in their services and offices. A folk story is told that at one point when the group had gone ashore, they were puzzled by the dark sand and the inability to light a good fire. Brendan understood what was happening but waited until the very island appeared to heave and suddenly rise up under them to tell them that their island was the back of a whale. Every year they returned to the back of the same whale to celebrate Easter. The whale, it seemed, was glad to oblige.

Animals were not only allies, but spiritual partners in the work of the saints. The saints understood them and were understood in return, with no presumed dominion of human or beast. Birds were considered messengers of the divine and given every respect no matter the species. Cranes in particular, because of their majestic and spectacular appearance in flight, were believed to be especially connected to God. Another story of Brendan involves arriving on a particular island and finding one tree filled on every branch with white birds. Worried that it was a sign from God, he prayed that God would explain the meaning of the birds. One of the birds flies down to sit with him and anthropomorphically speaks a long tale that concludes with encouragement. Ultimately Brendan settled back in Ireland, never having found the promised land but transformed by the journey. The whale and the birds had seemed only meant to be encouragers for his own journey of faith.

Sometimes waiting does not bring about the thing anticipated, but our own deeper selves instead. When has God encouraged you through unexpected moments toward new awakenings? When have you waited a long time for something only to learn more about who you really are instead?

Image by helen@littlethorpe

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LC† Come Holy Darkness is a project of Lutherans Connect, supported by the Eastern Synod of the Evangelical Lutheran Church in Canada and the Centre for Spirituality and Media at Martin Luther University College. To receive the devotions by email, write to lutheransconnect@gmail.com. The devotional pages are written and curated by Deacon Sherry Coman, with support and input from Pastor Steve Hoffard, Catherine Evenden and Henriette Thompson. Join us on Facebook, and on Twitter. Lutherans Connect invites you to make a donation to the Ministry by going to this link on the website of the ELCIC Eastern Synod and selecting "Lutherans Connect Devotionals" under "Fund". Devotions are always freely offered, however your donations help to support extended offerings throughout the year. 
Thank you and peace be with you!