gather: Johnsmas at the river
community memory, strawberries, & skipping stones
Hi folks! My name is Kristin - I’m a Pacific Northwest artist, farmer, & mom sharing art and reflections inspired by the sacred & the seasonal, place & past. I explore the agrarian heritage of the liturgical calendar and how our varied homes, landscapes, & lives reflect it.
Subscribe for free to receive reflections once a month. If you’d like to go deeper, delve into all my posts here, and access my library of printables, please consider joining our community of seasonal, liturgical living!
For the past few years, I’ve hosted a Liturgical Life group. We’re a diverse gathering - of all ages, from a variety of denominations, learning alongside each other and working to graft the traditions of the liturgical calendar into our own varied circumstances.
Memories of Johnsmas past
As we approach St. John’s Tide (and as I prep for our Liturgical Ladies to celebrate it again soon), I’m remembering back to one of our very first liturgical gatherings a few years ago…St. John’s Day at the river here on the farm.
Years ago, when I first encountered the liturgical calendar, I felt like I had unearthed a treasure in my life that I didn’t even know was there - but I also felt a twinge of loss as I began to realize how few of these celebrations still remained communal here in the US.
In the absence of these festivals & rhythms, how do we re-imagine them in community without it feeling artificial? That question is one I’ve been journeying through for years, and since the Feast of St. John the Baptist was one of the holy days that really shifted my perspective on the calendar, it’s still a perennial favorite for us to celebrate here.
For years, we celebrated as a family (which is lovely and impactful, too) - just simple traditions, like picking strawberries to put on our ice cream sundaes, and sometimes more involved, with bonfires and moonlit walks.
A community gathering for the feast of the Forerunner, though, was something I really pined after - to grow these traditions with our neighbors.