My fingernails are blue
Two of them, anyway.
My left thumb and pinkie.
Got color on them when the lovely Sarah and I got manicures the weekend before Thanksgiving.
It was a bit spur of the moment, but also not the first time.
In March, I painted all my nails Royal Blue. The official OPI color name was “I Married a Royal.”
Blue nails for Colorectal Cancer Awareness Month, which was chock full of media appearances, a trip to DC for Fight Colorectal Cancer’s Call on Congress and United in Blue, state and local proclamation for the month, and so much more.
In March, it made sense.
It made sense for me to do it again in November, but for more a more personal and serious reason: to remind myself to pray for some very dear friends in the fight for their very lives against the beast we call cancer.
Blue nails would also give me the opportunity to encourage my friends and family to pray for my friends too.
Because I knew people would ask. And they have.
“What’s with the blue nails?”
They’re blue to remind to me pray for my friend, Ryan, who recently started a new treatment regimen after 62 rounds of chemotherapy;
For my friend, Trevor, who is recovering from the mother of all surgeries known as the HIPEC procedure;
For my friend, JJ;
Three guys named Jason;
Brandon, Nathan, Ule, Keith, Zach, Chuck, Tom, Larry, Sarah, Ruth and Pandora;
And so many others.
I love all of these people very much, and each of them has had an impact on my life.
This being the season of Advent, I should have made a calendar. Pray every day of Advent for a different person I love who is deep in the fight.
Praying for them collectively means more, I think. And I picture their faces when I pray.
I love the season of Advent. The anticipation of the comings of Christ, infant and man. The preparation of our hearts, the soul feeling its worth.
In the Evangelical Lutheran Church in America tradition, the candles in the Advent wreath are blue.
Naturally, I love those candles.
Every Sunday we light a new one, a candle each for hope, peace, joy and love.
For me, Advent is a call to find moments of silence and solitude during the hustle and bustle of Christmas. Step away from the music, noise, crowds and commercialism of the holiday to remember why we celebrate in the first place.
It’s a call to sit quietly in the liminal space, that transition from where we are to where we’re going, what’s happening now and what comes next.
My favorite Advent tradition is “Holden Evening Prayer” every Wednesday night at my church, St. John’s Lutheran Church in Knoxville. The candle- and white string light-lit sanctuary of the 135-year-old church is the perfect setting for Marty Haugen’s quiet musical setting.
Most of the service is sung, with moments of quiet reflection, a brief meditation from either Pastor Amy or Pastor John, and communion.
My favorite part is the singing of Psalm 41 in a round:
“Let my prayers rise up
Like incense before you
The lifting up of my hands
As an offering to you.
O God, I call to you
Come to me now
O hear my voice
When I call to you.
Keep watch within me God
Deep in my heart
May the light of your love
Be burning bright.
All praise to the God of all
Creator of life
All praise be to Christ
And the spirit of love.”
I missed Holden Evening Prayer in person this week because I was getting my nails done with the lovely Sarah.
She’s back in the caregiver rotation for her mom, who is in a nursing home in Johnson City, but has to be in her Knoxville office two days a week.
Getting our nails done together was a way of spending time together in a liminal space.
I got blue nails again, a little darker this time. OPI’s “My Car Has Navy-Gation.”
I watched the recording of the Holden Evening Prayer livestream.
I sang along to Psalm 41:
“Let my prayers rise up
Like incense before you…”
I prayed for my friends.
I hope you’ll join me.
Thanks be to God.
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