Christmas Lights - Day 4 - Holiday Haiku

Welcome to Day 4 of our Holiday Haiku Challenge. Today's guest is Julie Kieras, author of the popular website happystronghome.com. Julie and I "met" a little over a year ago when she ran a series on her blog entitled, "The Poetry of Parenting Boys". As a BoyMom myself, who also happens to love poetry, I knew immediate that I had found a soul sister. We've been scheming up a way to work together on a project ever since!

Julie chose today's Holiday Haiku Challenge writing prompt:

Strands of Christmas Lights

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Light is always needed in the dark

By Julie Kieras

Colorful leaves give way to colorful lights in my part of the country. This year, I spy Peanuts gang instead of peaceful manger scenes as I drive through towns and neighborhoods.

Yet as municipal decor grows increasingly secularized, one standard Christmas decor remains: lights. Lights looping around evergreens, rooftops, and doorways. Telegraph lines of lights sending dotted messages down streets.

Winter's season is darker than the others by nature. And Light is always needed in the dark.

"The people that walked in darkness have seen a great light." Isaiah 9:2

People walk in darkness of the soul these days, just as Israel walked in darkness.

Passage after passage in Scripture reveals the need for the Light of the Gospel to shine forth from our hearts to the world. Jesus said both "I am the light of the world," and that "ye are the light of the world." (John 8:12; Matthew 5:14).

So when Wendy invited me to write a haiku for Christmas - a small dwelling place in a poem - my heart was drawn to speak of the Light that came for us through the darkness.

I hope this haiku shines into your holiday celebrations, and that you are blessed:

This year as you walk through bedazzled streets and shops, each time you see a strand of Christmas lights, dwell on the image of God, commanding the light to shine out of darkness (2 Corinthians 4:6) into the hearts of men.

Lord, may Your Light shine forth from our souls, that those who see it may be drawn out of darkness to You. Amen.

Amen

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Don't forget to use today's post to inspire a holiday Haiku of your own. Share it in the comment thread below or post it to Instagram #holidayhaiku

For more information about this series... start at the beginning.

Christmas Cookies - Day 3 - Holiday Haiku Challenge

Welcome to Day Three of our Holiday Haiku Challenge.  

So far our themes have been very worshipful, from the Incarnation of Christ to Advent Light. However, I would be remiss to not include a few simple and stirring traditions that make our Christmas' so very sentimental. And so today, I challenge you to pen your own haiku entitled:

Christmas Cookies

The holiday treats that I serve here in my home have nearly all been passed down from loved ones - My mother's Cut-Out Cookies to my mother-in-law's miniature pecan pies. However, the ones that smell and taste most like Christmastime to my boys (and my father) are my Grandmother's Graham Cracker Squares and Nanaimo Bars.

Now it's your turn. Tell us a story, evoke an emotion, express to us the essence of Christmas cookies, using five syllables on the top line, given in the middle, and another five on the bottom line. More information about our haiku challenge here. But first... a recipe from Grandma.

(The following recipe was originally my father's Grandmother's from the 1940's. The recipe card I have in my keepsake box was penned by my Grandma and given to my mom when my parents were dating back in 1967. At the bottom of the weathered recipe card is Grandma's delicate scrawl, "George likes them gooey.")

Graham Cracker Squares

Gather:

2 cups graham cracker squares

1 can of sweetened condensed milk

1 bag semisweet chocolate chips

- Mix thoroughly, pat down into parchment lined 8x8 baking pan, and bake at 275 degrees for approximately 30 minutes (or until golden brown.)

- Cut and serve warm with ice cream; or cooled, on a platter alongside your favorite Christmas cookies.

Advent Light - Day 2 - Holiday Haiku Challenge

Welcome to Day Two of our Holiday Haiku Challenge.

Today's guest is writer Michelle DeRusha. Michelle is the author of the incredible collection 50 Women Every Christian Should Know: Learning from Heroines of the Faith and the recently released Spiritual Misfit: A Memoir of Uneasy Faith. She writes regularly (and beautifully) here on her website, and loves connecting with women on Facebook and Twitter.

Michelle offers us today's #holidayhaiku writing prompt:

Advent Light

Advent Light

by Michelle DeRusha

It seems I’m always drawn to Isaiah during Advent – the prophecy of the coming Immanuel and the metaphors of light overcoming darkness help to orient my mind, body and soul toward the spirit of Christmas. I light the Advent candles in my dining room, lower the lights, turn on the Christmas tree, and open my Bible to Isaiah, soaking up the quiet anticipation of a new beginning that will arrive in the form of a sweet infant on Christmas Day.

This year, as we fight to see light amid darkness, as we struggle for hope in the face of senseless suffering around the globe, Isaiah’s words seem more important than ever.

“The people who walk in darkness will see a great light. For those who live in a land of deep darkness, a light will shine.” (Isaiah 9:2)

This Advent season, may we hold tightly onto the Light that penetrates deepest darkness. May we hold tightly onto Jesus. Amen.

If you are inspired to join our holiday haiku challenge, then leave your poetic offering of 17 syllables in the comment thread below or on Instagram, #holidayhaiku. Remember that there are 5 syllables in the first line, 7 in the middle, and another 5 on the third line. Let those few words communicate the essence of your worshipful theme. Metaphors from nature and a surprise at the end is always a nice touch to the traditional Japanese haiku. To join us from the beginning of our challenge, begin here. 

What is a Haiku? And what does it have to do with the Incarnation? - Day 1 - Holiday Haiku Challenge

Welcome to Day 1 of our Holiday Haiku Challenge: What is a haiku?

Today's guest, Bethany Hockenbury, is a sixth grade teacher, a mother of three, and one of the loveliest, most intelligent women I know. Her words are guaranteed to not only educate us on the technical artistry of the haiku, but to launch us into this Christmas season with a quiet sense of awe and wonder.

If you are so inspired, I hope you will join our Holiday Haiku Challenge. Each day my guests and I will offer a new word, phrase, lyric, or scripture reference to prompt your daily offering of 17 syllables. Leave your poem in the comment thread below or on Instagram, #holidayhaiku. If you publish your haiku in a blog post, please feel free to link to our challenge or send me a private message, and I'll be happy to share your words with our readers. Throughout these 25 days I will be featuring many of your words here at wendyspeake.com

And so, without further ado, here is today's first Holiday Haiku Prompt:

Incarnation

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Jesus is the Ultimate Haiku

A guest post by Bethany Hockenbury

Haiku: In middle school English class, we’ve all been taught that haiku is a traditional Japanese form of poetry that utilizes a syllable pattern of 5-7-5, relies on a strong image to make a point, and incorporates a surprise concept at the end.  As a 6th grade teacher, this is what I teach my students as well.  And then I watch them scrunch up their faces and count on their fingers as they desperately try to fit their ideas into the measured rhythm of syllables.  

“Mrs Hockenbury, what’s a syllable again?”

“What if I have lots more to say than five syllables?”   “Is ‘hot chocolate’ two syllables or three?” “Why do we have to do this? Haiku is dumb.”  

Mostly, their efforts are awful.  The syllables are fractured; the concepts are bland.  They drop their pencils on the floor and pinch their neighbors and maybe get a few words scribbled onto the page.  

They’re right.  This is dumb.  Something in our spirits resists being crammed into smaller spaces, resists being jammed into confines that we never planned.  

Imagine the Savior—the vast, omniscient Creator of the world—scrunched into the smallest of bodies, in the lowliest of perimeters.  A divine being, folded tightly into the confines of humanity.  The Word, the Logos, crammed into measured syllabic patterns.  

And then it takes my breath away………  The beauty of being condensed, made smaller, in order to reveal in simplicity the concepts that cannot be understood in fullness.  I cannot relate to His vastness, so He made himself small.  I cannot understand His depth, so He made himself simple.  I cannot fathom His divinity, so He made himself human.   The very Incarnation is a haiku--  just a few syllables, a strong, relatable image, and a surprise at the end.  

Merry Christmas,

Bethany Hockenbury

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A very special welcome to my fellow bloggers who have already taken up the challenge and made it their own. Visit the always encouraging and ever-joyful Mary Hill at MaryanderingCreatively.com, and the beautiful wordsmith, Megan Willome at MeganWillome.com

A Holiday Haiku Challenge - Learning to advent with fewer words

In the hustle-bustle madness of holiday going, I don’t want to just sneak in a little advent –like it’s a noun. Checking it off my list like a Christmas card in the mail, a quick stop at Costco, a pie in the oven. Advent isn't another noun to consume this holiday. I want plenty of time and space these cold December days to advent – like the quietly abiding verb it can be. Pulling away to meditate on the coming of Christ! However, for some, this idea of sitting in the stillness and manufacturing a holy moment seems daunting. "How many words should I read? How many words should I pray? How long should this take?"

Well, while I hope that we learn to listen long, abide ceaselessly, and find refuge in His drawn-out presence, what if we begin with just 17 syllables? The length of a simple haiku.

Here in the midst of our merry making moments this Christmas season, let me challenge you to pull away each day in order to consider some aspect of God's glorious coming - to advent. I will offer you a daily Christmas theme for you to meditate on. Then you get to worshipfully work at narrowing it down 'til you arrive at its very essence. Boil it on the fiery stovetop of your heart and mind until you get a fragrant and flavorful reduction offering. 

That's the art of the haiku... discovering the essence of a thing in 17 syllables.

And so, throughout the month of December I’m hosting a holiday haiku challenge. I’ve invited other writers to advent with me each day in quiet community, and I want you to pick up your pen and join us. The emphasis will be on God’s glory, not on our going-going-going. And isn’t that the true challenge of Christmas? Slowing down... to worship... Him.

The title of the series (and my first haiku) is A Holiday Haiku: Fewer Words.

Day one: Incarnation - by Bethany Hockenbury

Day two: Advent Light - by Michelle DeRusha

Day three: Christmas Cookies

Day four: Strands of Christmas Lights - by Julie Kieras

Day five: The Fragrance of Christmas - by Mandy Mianecki

Day six: Be Still and Know - by Cathi Speake

Day 7:  Make Room - by Elise Hurd

Day 8: John 3:16

Day 9: Silent Night - by Colleen Mitchell

Day 10: Mary - by Becky Keife

Day 11: Lamb of God - by Angie Mosteller

Day 12: Adoration - by Susan Shipe

Day 13: Christmas Traditions

Day 14: Herod - by Kelli Stuart

Day 15: Search me O God this Christmastime - by Katie M. Reid

Day 16: Jesus was a Child - by Angie Mosteller

Day 17: Christmas Carols - by Alle McCloskey

Day 18: Christmas Hospitality - by Kris Camealy

Day 19: Angels We Have Heard on High

Day 20: Emmanuel - by Tara Ulrich

Day 21: Contented Christmas - by Amber Lia

Day 22: The Shepherds - by Gayl Write

Day 23: Christmas Presents

Day 24: Salvation

Now pick up your pen and join the fun...

17 syllables. That’s it.

17 syllables each day to point our hearts back to Christ this Christmas.

17 syllables broken into 3 lines. The first holds 5 syllables, the second has 7, and the third line wraps it up with another 5. 

17 syllables remind me of these lyrics:

Each day you holds a new writing prompt  - one word, a short phrase, a lyric, Christmas character, or a scripture reference to inspire your Haiku. Then advent with the Lord as you type out your worshipful response. Leave your poem in the comment thread, or share it on Instagram #holidayhaiku.