Happy New Year!

It is normal at the end of a year in which you have experienced hardship to experience the end of one year and the beginning of the next year with some relief. We all like the idea that we can put grief and pain behind us and move on, but it isn't really true. Our experiences, whether good, bad, or neutral, remain with us and will continue to shape us for the remainder of our lives, for good or for ill.  Nevertheless, the changing from one year to the next is a good time to take stock and even make changes.
I tend not to make major New Year's resolutions because most people break their resolutions as soon as they make them. But there are other great ways to renew one's life besides resolutions. The early Christians believed the first day of the new year should be spent reflecting on past mistakes and resolving to improve oneself in the new year.

At care2.com they suggest committing seven days to starting over.  This could be a great way to shake things up for the first day of the year.

At wikihow, the suggestions are more along the lines of shaking things up in one or more areas of your life.  If you are shy, try being more outgoing, or if you are extroverted, try adding in more contemplation. 

Mentalhealth.com suggests living with more attention to the little things that mean a lot, such as walking, eating and breathing.

Ehow.com suggests making practical changes, such as getting more sleep or spending more time outdoors.

Brainyquotes.com offers quotes featuring the word "renew," such as this one by Anais Nin: It is the function of art to renew our perception. What we are familiar with we cease to see. The writer shakes up the familiar scene, and, as if by magic, we see a new meaning in it. 

The New Year, like so much in life, is to at least some extent what you make of it. I hope 2013 is a good one for you!

Gifts of the Magi

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. (excerpt from Matthew 2:1-12)

Epiphany, the last Sunday in the Advent-Christmas season, is my favorite day in the Christmas season. As a child I don't remember having a separate observance of Epiphany at church. Perhaps the pastor gave a sermon about the story of Magi on the Sunday closest to January 6; I don't really remember.

I came to love the idea of Epiphany in college, when I learned that "epiphany" is a word that means "a sudden realization of a great truth."

How often has that happened to you? It has happened to me a lot--suddenly a lot of facts and feelings come together in my brain and I understand my world and my life in a new way. An epiphany can be frightening or inspiring, but it changes everything forever. 

I see Epiphany as a day to celebrate not just the Epiphany that Jesus came to be the savior of the world, but to celebrate and seek out other epiphanies.

What does Epiphany mean to you? 

A Christmas Story

It is the custom of most churches to gather on the evening of December 24, to tell the story of the birth of Jesus, to light candles, to sing carols, and to wish one another a happy holiday. This is the favorite worship service of the year for most people. It certainly was for me, when I was a child.  I liked it because all the parts of worship I enjoyed the most were present, and the things I didn't like about church mostly didn't happen.

At my church we had two services on Christmas Eve--an early service featuring a children's program, and a midnight service featuring candles and Holy Communion. At a fairly young age I came to prefer the second service, even though in my congregation children were not permitted to partake of the elements of wafers and wine.

I think I liked it because there was a lot of singing and not much talking, and a sense of mystery and wonder that our usual Sunday morning services lacked. The people seemed subdued and yet somehow also the air crackled with excitement. As a pastor I strive always to bring that feeling to worship services. 

What do you like about Christmas Eve?

A Tale of Two Women

For as soon as I heard the sound of your greeting, the child in my womb leaped for joy. (excerpt from Luke 1: 39-56)

Although the story about a pregnant Mary visiting her relative Elizabeth only appears in Luke's gospel, it is logical to believe that John the Baptist and Jesus are related, though probably distantly. The Jewish community in Palestine at the time of Jesus' birth is probably both kind of small and insular. In any case, the story of the encounter between Mary and Elizabeth is pretty special because the Bible does not record many interactions of this nature--a  demonstration of love and care between two women. (A notable exception to this is, of course, the story of Ruth and Naomi.) 

The circumstances behind the pregnancies of these two women could not be more different. One woman, Elizabeth, is older, long married, seems to be fairly secure both financially and socially, and has longed to become a mother for many years. In contrast, Mary is very young, probably more girl than woman really, is quite poor and not yet married, and never had a chance to worry about whether or not she would be able to conceive. And yet these women feel a strong sense of mystical connection. Their faith tells them that they should regard both of these pregnancies as a blessing. Having children (particularly sons) is the most important duty of women and families regard it universally as a gift from God. In Mary and Elizabeth's day, sons mean more hands to work for the family's economic welfare, whereas nowadays children are seen as a financial burden upon their parents--a burden that can bring great joy, but nevertheless a real and challenging responsibility. 

The bottom line, then and now, is that pregnancy is more or less the same experience, whether you are very young or older, whether you have hoped to become a mom for years or motherhood happens suddenly and without warning. For a period of nine months your body is not your own, and then for a long time afterward (some would say forever) your life is not your own. Pregnancy can be a blessed state that teaches lessons about surrender, and about love. It is an experience unlike any other. But pregnancy can also be difficult. Certainly both women had moments of profound joy and moments of great anxieties during their pregnancies. Fortunately, they had each other. 

When you are in an important moment in your life, whether it is a pregnancy or a time of falling in love or a loss of a job or a serious illness, having someone there to listen and to understand can make all the difference. If you need to reach out to someone for help or comfort or an unbiased opinion, don't be afraid to reach out. 

And, even more importantly, it is good to be aware that someone may be reaching out to you for support, just as Mary reached out to Elizabeth. So many of us have lives that are so full that we can miss the signs that someone needs us. If I could encourage any type of prayer during this season, this is the type of prayer I would urge you to make--that like Mary and Elizabeth, you will be open to God's call, whatever form it takes.

Blue at Christmas?

Here at the "A Time for All" Blog I mainly like to keep things light and breezy, but I thought it would be good to tackle the important subject of Christmas Blues. While feeling "down" or depressed is tough at any time of year, it can feel especially difficult when you are expected to be making the rounds of parties and when everywhere you look, even at ads and on television shows, people are pictured looking excited and caught up in some sort of Christmas magic (brought on by being given the gift of whatever product the ad is selling, of course.)

There are lots of reasons that people are sad at Christmastime, and Christmastime sadness knows no boundaries of age, gender, income level or any other category of person. I have been there, myself, plenty of times. 

• Maybe you have experienced a loss recently, or around this time of year. It could be a death, or other loss, such as a divorce, a move, or even becoming an "empty nester."

• Maybe you are not feeling well physically at the moment.

• Maybe you are unable to be with loved ones with whom you had hoped spend the holidays.

• Maybe your financial circumstances are difficult, making your usual holiday merriment a challenge to afford.

• Maybe work or other obligations have left you with no energy for your usual holiday traditions.

• Understand that what you are feeling is normal and not uncommon. You are not alone, and there is nothing wrong with you. "Beating yourself up" because you don't feel happy at a time of year that is supposed to be happy will only make things worse. Give yourself a pass. 

• Take care of your needs. If you are sick, don't overdo it. If you are sad, allow yourself to have a good cry now and again, but don't "wallow" all the time.  After you cry, dry your tears and find something cheerful to do. Listen to happy music, or call a friend and go to a movie. If your sadness has persisted for more than two weeks or is interfering with your work and usual activities, see your doctor for a physical checkup and make sure to mention that you have felt "down" or "off" recently.

• If you are mourning someone who has died, try and include something in your holiday celebration that will help you remember the person. For example, the Christmas after my mom died, I baked her cutout cookie recipe for my family. You could do something like place framed photos of the person from Christmases past. This might make it more difficult the first time you do it but in the long run it is a good way to get past the saddest part of grieving.

• Eat well, exercise and avoid consuming a lot of "vices" like rich food, alcohol or tobacco. Alcohol is a depressant, so if you are feeling sad, maybe it's best to avoid it all together. 

• Don't be afraid to mix up traditions. A tradition is a shortcut to help people get into the proper frame of mind and heart. If a "tradition" doesn't work for you anymore, don't be afraid to change things up. Sometimes just a little tweak is all you need. 

• If you aren't feeling yourself, be honest about your feelings with those close to you. There is no reason to lay a heavy burden on others, especially if they are grieving the same loss as you, but sometimes a little honesty helps people stop going through the motions and helps bring changes to the holiday season that are healing. 
• Do something for somebody else. Sometimes what you need to feel better is to know that you are not alone. There are plenty of charities that can use help this time of year, or maybe you could reach out with a phone call, a letter or an invitation to someone else you know who could use a friend.

• Make room for spirituality. Pray. Read scripture. Listen to inspiring music. Attend a "Blue Christmas" worship service near you.

O God of all seasons and senses, grant us the sense of your timing to submit gracefully and rejoice quietly in the turn of the seasons.
of grey and white and cold,
teach us the lessons of endings;
children growing, friends leaving, loved ones dying,
grieving over,
grudges over,
blaming over,
excuses over.
In this season of short days and long nights,
of grey and white and cold,
teach us the lessons of beginnings;
that such waitings and endings may be the starting place,
a planting of seeds which bring to birth what is ready to be born—
something right and just and different,
a new song, a deeper relationship, a fuller love—
in the fullness of your time.

Caroling, Caroling

Slate online magazine has a story about the history of Christmas Carols today. It's a question most of us have probably never asked--why do we sing special songs for Christmas? The history, as you can imagine, is long and convoluted:
Although there are accounts of birth-of-Christ hymns being sung in second-century Rome—by order of Christian authorities, not public preference—it was not until the fourth century, when Christmas was formalized as a feast and fixed to Dec. 25, that a songbook started to take form. Some of the first contributions were existing, non-Christian carols adapted to the new celebration. The early church did not appreciate these pagan-Christian conversions and answered with hymns of its own. 

Sounds sort of grim, doesn't it? But things got better, thanks to our old friend the patron Saint of Animals, St. Francis:

 In the 13^th century, Francis tried to break the Christmas celebration from its tedious husk, mostly by making the birth of Christ into a live theatrical event. He organized nativity pageants featuring real hay, real animals, and, for the first time, real music: Deviating from tradition, he allowed for narrative songs in audiences’ native languages, turning Christmas music into an opportunity for mainstream creativity. Drinking songs were given Yuletide lyrics (greatly to the church’s horror) and disseminated by traveling entertainers. Christmas began to take on a life of its own, beyond the exigencies of the sacred feast.

There's more to the story...much more, in fact, including how the Puritans did away with the excesses of Christmas, including caroling, and how Charles Dickens helped to encourage a merry celebration of Christmas through his short story "A Christmas Carol." 

At Riverton Church we love Christmas music and it is always a struggle to figure out which ones we should sing on Christmas Eve, which is when we have the highest attendance of the Christmas season. Silent Night is a must, of course, but there are too many favorites to include them all.

If you want to find out what we will be singing this Christmas Eve, our service is at 7:30 p.m. and all are welcome. We try to make the service equally memorable and enjoyable to those who come every week and those for whom it is their first time.

This is good news?

John said to the crowds that came out to be baptized by him, "You brood of vipers! Who warned you to flee from the wrath to come?  Bear fruits worthy of repentance. Do not begin to say to yourselves, 'We have Abraham as our ancestor'; for I tell you, God is able from these stones to raise up children to Abraham...So, with many other exhortations, he proclaimed the good news to the people.
Excerpt from Luke 3:7-18

This passage of scripture starts out intense and then ramps it up to eleven on a scale from one to ten:  Even now the ax is lying at the root of the trees; every tree therefore that does not bear good fruit is cut down and thrown into the fire."

Okay then. That was...intense. And then, just when you think this guy is just another crazy street preacher, he starts getting specific about what he means when he says, "Bear fruits worthy of repentance." 

"Whoever has two coats must share with anyone who has none; and whoever has food must do likewise."

That sounds kind of reasonable--at least, compared with the "brood of vipers" talk, it sounds reasonable. And then he makes a prediction: 

 "I baptize you with water; but one who is more powerful than I is coming; I am not worthy to untie the thong of his sandals. He will baptize you with the Holy Spirit and fire. His winnowing fork is in his hand, to clear his threshing floor and to gather the wheat into his granary; but the chaff he will burn with unquenchable fire."

This is what he refers to as "good news"--the stuff about the winnowing fork and burning chaff. Again, we're not used to thinking about preparing for Christmas in this way. Our idea of good news is hearing that the price of gas went down, or that a package we've been waiting for has arrived, or that someone we loved who was sick is recovering faster than expected. Most people, most of the time, spend most of our energy thinking about our own lives--our jobs, our families, our communities, the people and things that are familiar to us. 

John the Baptist doesn't see the world the same way that we do. Is that a good thing? The author of Luke's gospel thinks that it is. What do you think?

Preparing the way

"...the word of God came to John son of Zechariah in the wilderness. He went into all the region around the Jordan, proclaiming a baptism of repentance for the forgiveness of sins..."
(Excerpt from Luke 3: 1-6.)

Advent is called a season of preparation. It is supposed to prepare the faithful for the coming of Christmas.  Advent is supposed to be a penitent season (that is, a time for repenting) like Lent. According to this way of thinking, Christians are supposed to spend time searching their souls looking for their own sinfulness, acknowledge their sins before God and then prayerfully ask God to help them change. 

However, different cultures have a different understanding of Advent. In Mexico and some other Spanish-speaking countries, for example, Christians prepare for Christmas through a 400-year-old custom called "Las Posadas," a celebration that lasts for nine days, beginning on December 16 and going through December 24. Las Posadas involves people processing through town behind a couple dressed as Mary and Joseph. The procession stops at a different house or church each night and enacts the story of Mary and Joseph trying to get lodging. Unlike in the real Christmas story, eventually the holy couple are accepted, and the entire procession joins in a time of feasting, often partying until the wee hours.

While this particular custom may seem unusual to those of us who did not grow up with it, most of us in the United States find ourselves spending many days and evenings in December partying with various configurations of friends and acquaintances, usually with no mention made of the idea that the Advent season is a journey that takes us from our ordinary lives to the extraordinary event that is Christmas.

Las Posadas focuses on a particular sin in the Christmas story--the sin of inhospitality. This may be one of the reasons that the Latin culture, much like the culture of the Middle East, is known for its hospitality. There are other sins in the Christmas story that we can focus on in the Advent Season as well, but the sin of inhospitality seems like a pretty good one for our culture as well. As you go about your Christmas-season rounds of visiting, partying, shopping and gifting, take a moment and think about who is being included and who is not being included in your holiday preparations and merry-making. Clearly we can't include everyone in the entire world on our Christmas gift list, but by expanding our circle of hospitality, we enlarge our hearts and enrich our lives.

Prayer Beads: Not Just for Celebrities Anymore

Prayer beads may come and go as a fashion accessory, but prayer beads can be a useful and meaningful part of Christian spirituality. This is true for Protestants as well as Catholics, and for those who prefer extemporaneous and spontaneous prayers as opposed to memorized prayers. 

The website Karen's Prayer Beads  offers instructions for re-purposing and modifying a traditional Rosary for a variety of prayer styles and for making a number of other types of prayer beads. 

The idea of prayer beads has intrigued me for a while. I never liked the idea of the traditional Rosary--probably because I was raised as a Protestant.  I can see how using the traditional practice of the Rosary might be meaningful for some, but as of right now I don't feel ready to try it. I do like the idea, however, of a Joys and Concerns Rosary, a type of Rosary designed by a Unitarian Universalist minister:

The bracelet has four sections of seven beads each, separated by four larger beads (like the Anglican Rosary). The first section is green, the second is yellow, the third is blue, and the fourth is red. You could also use rainbow colors, as in Jim Casebolt's sermon. The four large beads can be black or white or gray or some other contrasting color. 

On the first large bead (before the green section) ask God to be with you on your journey, or enter a time of reflection in some other way.

On the seven green beads, enter the sacred space by naming seven things that seem holy or magical to you. These can be places or relationships or works of art or music or anything else that has a numinous feeling for you. When you reach the next large bead, sit in silence for a while and listen for the voice of God within you.

On the seven yellow beads, name your joys, count your blessings, offer up thanksgiving for the good things in your life. Think of seven things you are thankful for, or joyous about. Again pause and listen on the next large bead.

On the seven blue beads, name your concerns, think of seven things that you are worried or remorseful about, things that you want to do better in your life. Pause and listen on the next large bead.

On the seven red beads, share your love. Send your love and good wishes and prayers out to seven people or categories of people, ask for a blessing on them. Pause and listen on the large bead, and come out of the prayer time.

Praying is to the spirit as exercise is to the body: It needs to be done regularly in order to keep in good shape and prepare for times of stress. Prayer beads are a useful aid in starting and maintaining a regular prayer practice--kind of like a treadmill for your spiritual walk. I have decided to create one of these Joys and Concerns bracelet, using beads and elastic cord I have lying around my home from jewelry making projects. Just as you don't have to join an expensive gym and hire a personal trainer to begin a physical fitness regimen, you don't need to go to a retreat center to begin a spiritual fitness regimen. All you need is willingness and openness.

You Tubing It

Why You Tube? I started creating videos for You Tube as a way to enliven the content on our church website. Then I quickly became enamored of the process of creating the videos themselves. I enjoy finding images, searching for the right music on the public domain music website ccmixter, writing text or adding just the right Bible quotes in just the right way, and then mixing the whole thing up into a spiritual stew with Windows Live Movie Maker. For me, creating the videos are a spiritual exercise. Check out our church You Tube Channel if you are curious.

Prayer? There's an App for that...

These days many of us live our lives online/on mobile devices. Its just plain smart to incorporate your prayer life into your high-tech gadgets, and in this post I'm going to offer some practical ways to do that, but first I want to address the issue of what prayer is, and why you should pray in the first place.

I'm not new to prayer--I learned how to pray when I was a small child in church and developed a daily prayer routine early on. This recent blog post makes a pretty good argument for why prayer works, and works for anyone--even intellectuals and Atheists.

Now, onto the how.

Online prayer aids and communities are plentiful. The trick is to find one that works for you. I like sites that are visual that make prayer fun.

Angel Cards
 My #1 online prayer go-to is the virtual Angel Cards. I sometimes visit this site several times a day, whenever I get into a funk for any reason or feel stuck about something.

Online Labyrinth
The Online Labyrinth is hands-down my favorite devotional website. It's not really a true labyrinth: it's a website that directs you through a series of guided, interactive devotions. It is possible to race through them but I find I get the most out of the exercises if I wait until the music stops before moving on to the next devotion. If you do it that way, it takes about 40 minutes to complete. It's not a quick devotion but it does enable you to go deeper when you really need it.

Prayer Shawls
Do you knit or crochet, or would you like to learn? Then prayer shawls might be the way for you to pray! Learn more at http://www.shawlministry.com/, or come to our Prayer Shawl retreat at Riverton Church on June 2, 9-noon.

Yahoo Groups
There are a number of groups devoted to prayer. One to try is the Prayer Shawl Group, which was started by the two women who originated the prayer shawl knitting ministry through a course at Hartford Seminary in 1997.

Phone Apps
Looking for quick inspiration? Praying for a bunch of different issues and people? There's an app for that! I There are many Apps out there that prompt and support prayers in a number of ways, ranging from helping you to keep track of things you're praying for to supplying the text of well-known prayers. Here is a beliefnet review of some creative prayer apps to get you started.

Online Prayer Chapel
Forward movement, a ministry of the Episcopal church, invites you to light a virtual candle, make a prayer request or browse a list of topical prayers in their prayer chapel.

Facebook Request a Prayer Page
This page is maintained by the United Church of Christ and provides people with an opportunity topost prayer requests.

Facebook Apps
The most popular of the Facebook prayer apps seems to be "God Wants You To Know." This app provides inspiration through daily messages posted on your Facebook page.

World Prayers
Prayers from a variety of sources and faith traditions. Sort by tradition/topic or allow it to choose a random prayer for you.

Got more ideas to share? Share a comment.

Scents and Sensibility

This week I took a cue from Mike Piazzo at the Center for Progressive Renewal and baked a loaf of bread in the sanctuary of my church during the worship service. Why did I do this? 

Mike says that the best worship has elements of drama and excitement. It was communion Sunday, and I know from past experiences that the smell of freshly baked bread has enhanced communion for worshipers. 

It wasn't all that hard to do. At home I mixed up a batch of bread do in my breadmaker, using the dough setting. Then I transported the whole machine to church and plugged it in at the back of the sanctuary. I set the breadmaker to the bake cycle (which lasts an hour) and started it just before the service began. (If your worship lasts more than an hour, enlist a volunteer to stop the machine before it lets out an annoying beep when it is done baking.) A breadmaker has a little vent in the lid designed to allow steam to escape, and the smell it emits is positively heavenly.

I'm planning on doing even more experiments with my breadmaker. As I speak I'm baking up a batch of chocolate pudding cake....

Abundance

2 Corinthians 9:8 And God is able to provide you with every blessing in abundance, so that by always having enough of everything, you may share abundantly in every good work.


Last week I preached a well-received sermon on the concept of Abundance. Abundance is a powerful Biblical concept which, if applied regularly (one might say religiously)  has the power to transform everything in your life.

What is Abundance?

Abundance is not just gratitude, although gratitude and counting blessings is good.

Abundance is not just generosity—it is possible to be generous even with things that are scarce in our lives. Sometimes poor people are the most generous. It is possible to be down to your last crust of bread and to share that crust with someone. Sharing from scarcity can be a deeply moving gesture, but it is an adaptation to a crisis, and if you are not in a crisis you need to adjust your thinking. 

Living a life from a viewpoint of abundance is taking an honest look at what we possess in abundance and making our choices and decisions based on the fact--not the idea, but the fact--that God is providing us with abundant blessings.

It means leading with our strengths, and with confidence.

It means recognizing we all have blessings to give and concentrating on sharing those blessings rather than focusing on any perceived deficit or lack in our lives.

This time of year, most yards are covered with dandelions. Many people look at their dandelion-strewn lawns and see persistent weeds. I see abundant free food for my dandelion-loving pet bunny.

What do you possess in abundance?

It may be material abundance.

It may be land.

It may be time.

It may be a lot of pet-able, adorable animals.

It may be wildflowers.

It may be pennies.

It may be rocks.

It may be patience for handicapped people.

It may be friends.

It may be faith.

Whenever my thoughts turn to what I want or need, instead of practicing scarcity thinking and dwelling on the things I do not have, I am learning to inventory what I possess in abundance and figure out how to use that abundance to get what I need, or to re-examine whether I really need it in the first place. Abundance teaches us that even though other people have more of some things, God is providing each one of us with not just enough, but more than enough. We just need to look with eyes of abundance to see it.

Also, and this is really important, we need to figure out how to share from our abundance with others. Sharing from our scarcity, in many cases, can make us feel resentful and can lead to more scarcity thinking, but sharing from our abundance grows our soul and multiplies our abundance according to God's plan for humanity.

The Resurrection is like...

When I was a child we spent most of our Easter Sundays in Florida, and attended some church where we'd never been. Over the years I heard many children's sermons about objects that tell the story of the Resurrection. I always enjoyed these, so I thought I'd share a few from my childhood plus a new one I've found:

The Legend of the Sand Dollar

The sand dollar is a beachcomber's dream shell find. Generally you only find fragments of them, but they are widely available in gift shops in Florida. I found a website with four versions of the legend. This is the version most familiar to me:

Upon this odd-shaped sea shell
A legend grand is told
About the life of Jesus
The wondrous tale of old

The center marking plainly shows
The well known Guiding Star
That led to tiny Bethlehem
The Wise Men from afar

The Christmas flower, Poinsettia
For His Nativity
The Resurrection too is marked
The Easter Lily, see

Five wounds were suffered by our Lord
From nails and Roman's spear
When He died for us on the cross
The wounds show plainly here

Within the shell, should it be broke,
Five Doves of Peace are found
To emphasize this legend
So may Love and Peace abound

The Easter Lily

There are different versions of this legend as well.

Every year, on the first Sunday after the first full moon, churches are filled with exquisite Easter lilies. Churches at Easter time grace the altars and surround the cross with Easter Lilies, to commemorate the resurrection of Jesus Christ.

This importance rests even more clearly on a legend that the blood of Jesus, as it fell from the cross, was by a miracle transformed into flowers which filled heaven and earth. The Dogwood An old and beautiful legend has it that, at the time of the crucifixion, the dogwood was comparable in size to the oak tree and other monarchs of the forest. Because of its firmness and strength it was selected as the timber for the cross, but to be put to such a cruel use greatly distressed the tree. Sensing this, the crucified Jesus in his gentle pity for the sorrow and suffering of all said to it: "Because of your sorrow and pity for My sufferings, never again will the dogwood tree grow large enough to be used as a gibbet. Henceforth it will be slender, bent and twisted and its blossoms will be in the form of a cross -- two long and two short petals. In the center of the outer edge of each petal there will be nail prints -- brown with rust and stained with red -- and in the center of the flower will be a crown of thorns, and all who see this will remember." Resurrection Cookies This is a teaching activity for children. It could be adapted for use as a children's sermon if the ingredients were simply brought into the church and displayed.

Resurrection Garden

I love the look of this Easter Garden. I planted mine in a clear serving tray from the dollar store, and I got a bag of small stones there too. The rest of the stuff is from my house and yard. For the empty tomb I used a short plastic see-through glass. It hasn't sprouted yet, and if it doesn't sprout in time I plan to transplant some grass from my own yard.