A Story for the Season of Light

During the winter months, especially December, many religions focus on light:

The light of the Divali lamps to welcome the goddess Lakshmi into the homes of Hindus

The candles and sweets of Santa Lucia Day in Sweden

Waiting for Jesus, the light of the world, to be born again in the hearts of Christians











The light of the Hannukah Menorah
in the homes of Jews








Observing Winter Solstice and waiting for the light of the sun to return to the earth in the Pagan tradition

Lighting the Kwanzaa Kinara in the African American tradition












A good friend, Terri Lynn Brewer, has written a children's story about another kind of light.
I have copied it below, with her permission.
May your days and nights be merry and bright during this season of light.




"When we were kids, Mom and Dad would always tells us, "We love you."   We would get kisses and hugs and even get cuddles in their arms.

Though we may not be able to exactly define the word love, we do know what it feels like:
like warmth, like when we hold our favorite blanket, teddy bear, doll, or our favorite dinosaur.

One day when I was a little girl, I broke the rules.
That's right, I disobeyed. I was playing rough with four of my friends in the house- the forbidden play zone- and I broke a lamp.
Oh BOY, was I in trouble.
I wouldn't get love anymore unless I could get out of this mess. I wasn't sure how but I knew I'd do anything to make sure my parents would still love me- that I could still get to feel those warm cuddles.

First, I needed to clean up the broken lamp, and I did.
Then, later, even though they may have not noticed the lamp for a while, I decided to tell my Mom and Dad that I broke the lamp- that I broke the rules.

My Mom and Dad sat and listened very closely.
When I was done I thought for sure, no, I KNEW, they would tell me that I was bad.
But neither of them said anything for a moment. Oh boy, this was going to be much worse than I had expected.
I knew they didn't love me anymore, but then, what??...they both reached out and pulled me close, saying,
"We all break lamps at some time in our lives. We are so happy that you did not get cut. Thank you for cleaning up the broken glass and telling us the truth."
Then they both drew me near and told me they loved me.

And do you know what I learned? What I know now that I didn't know before?
Now I know that love can even come from broken lamps."

The Great Lunch

On one occasion when the disciples had just finished a road trip across the country preaching about universal salvation, Jesus scheduled a meeting with them at the downtown library so that he could hear about their experiences.



Even though he had been careful to choose a secluded alcove on the third floor, the crowds who loved to be near him still managed to find him. Jesus noticed men wearing dirty jackets and carrying worn backpacks, mothers with small children and people who seemed to be talking to no one in particular. Before long, more than a hundred people had gathered in the small space.



Since the people were waiting so patiently for a word from him, Jesus had compassion on them and because their numbers were more than he had expected, he took them outside to talk so that they would not disturb other library patrons.


He talked about his vision for a world where each person would be valued for the unique gifts they bring to their community and a world where justice was practiced and not just preached. He spent some time talking about the word love and how society had turned it into a syrupy sentiment instead of an action word that demonstrated to broad love of the Divine in each of individual. The people applauded and said “Amen” and encouraged Jesus to keep talking.

Soon it was lunchtime. The disciples pulled Jesus aside and told him to send the people away so that Jesus and the twelve could go and get lunch. Jesus told them he would like to invite the people gathered to eat lunch with them. 


The disciples were appalled that Jesus would want to invite all these people to lunch.  “Besides,” they said, “we were going to just go up to the street or a sandwich. After our teaching trips we have very little money left. We were going to pitch in and get something for us all to share….we will be lucky if the 13 of us get enough to eat. For sure there will not be enough to feed all of these people. Let them go and get their own lunch.”

Jesus could not bear to send all of the people away hungry when he was going to eat so he told the disciples to go and buy as many sandwiches as they could. When they returned he took all of the sandwiches and cut them into pieces, gave thanks for the food and those gathered, and then he invited everyone to join them for lunch. Many of the people at the lunch opened their bags and purses and took out what food they had brought along and pretty soon they had a nice little pot luck lunch. Each person took a piece of sandwich and one or two other little treats and then they all sat around eating and laughing. They must have looked like they were having a party because several people walking by decided to join in too.

After a while the crowd began to break up and the disciples helped Jesus clean up. They noticed that there was still some food left over and they gathered up the left overs – just enough left so each of the disciples and Jesus could put a snack in their pockets for later.

As Jesus departed for home, he thought about the day and what a great time it had been talking about what the world could become and making new friends. He thought about the meal and how everyone had been fed. “Just goes to show you what can happen when everyone gives what they can,” he thought, and he smiled, looking forward to the time when the spirit of the day would become a reality for the world.

A Prayer for December and All Year Through

"Christmas is
a season of the spirit,
a habit of the heart,
not reserved for designated days in December,
But availbale all days, all year,
lighting our way through the darkness and the
      dullness of the winters of our souls to the
      Bethlehem that dwells in each of us.
There a star shines in spite of ourselves and the
absurdities and the ironies of our existence.

We need to be reminded, now and then, of that star's
abiding presence and persistence in each one of us."
---Patricia Bowen

Waiting for the Sun

The season of Advent began on November 27.
"Advent" usually refers to the Christian liturgical season that ushers in Christmas- waiting for the Son of God to be born in the world and the hearts of humans again. 

But, Advent- which means "to wait or to come"- has its roots in the pagan winter solstice. The Hungarian name for the same holiday means "passage" and refers to the passing of time while waiting for the return of the sun.

Christmas wasn't a Christian church holiday until the fourth century C.E. when Pope Julius I declared December 25 as the birthday of Christ. Many believe this date was chosen to replace a pagan holiday and give it a Christian meaning since December 25th had been the date of the Roman holiday of Sol Invuctus- the celebration of the Unconquered Sun. Sol Invuctus was a time of merry making, feasting and gift giving.

Whether you are Christian, Pagan or secular, the Advent season is a time of waiting. Waiting through the darkness, marking time as the longest night of the year approaches- Winter Solstice. Waiting for the return of the Sun or the Son.

In the Pagan tradition, the Winter Solstice is the turning point of the year and a good time for spiritual work. Consider incorporating a new tradition into your daily life during this time of the year as you wait for the return of the Light to the darkened world.

• Watch the sun rise and greet the new day with a prayer.
• Contemplate the benefits of darkness. Consider what darkness brings to the natural world and the gifts of darkness in your life.
• What lies dormant within you, waiting to come to life?
• What needs to be renewed in you?
• Contemplate your own mortality. Where were/are the dark moments? What are you looking forward to the coming light revealing in you?
• Reflect on the cycles in your life- the endings and the beginnings.

Solstice Prayers
by Patti Wigington
http://paganwiccan.about.com/od/yuleprayers/qt/EarthPrayerYule.htm

1.   Cold and dark, this time of year,
the earth lies dormant, awaiting the return
of the sun, and with it, life.
far beneath the frozen surface,
a heartbeat waits,
unitl the moment is right,
to spring.


2.   See the gray skies overhead, preparing the way
for the darkness soon to come.
See the gray skies overhead, preparing the way
for the world to go cold and lifeless.
See the gray skies overhead, preparing the way
for the longest night of the year.
See the gray skies overhead, preparing the way
for the sun to one day return,
bringing with it light.


3.   The longest night has come once more,
the sun has set, and darkness fallen.
The trees are bare, the earth asleep,
and the skies are cold and black.
Yet tonight we rejoice, in this longest night,
embracing the darkness that enfolds us.
We welcome the night and all that it holds,
as the light of the stars shines down.


4.   As the earth grows colder,
the winds blow faster,
the fire dwindles smaller,
the rains fall harder,
let the light of the sun
find its way home.




"So the Christians and the Pagans sat together at the table
Finding faith and common ground the best that they were able
Lighting trees in darkness, learning new ways from the old,
Making sense of history and drawing warmth out of the cold."
Dar Williams in her song, "The Christians and the Pagans"

For the Season of Hospitality

Practicing hospitality means welcoming visitors and strangers as a holy guest. It means welcoming the Divine in the body of a love one or a stranger. Being a person who practices hospitality means living your life as though every day were an ‘open house’......

dismantling the barriers to welcome in our daily lives and creating a world where people choose to become a friend instead of remaining a stranger.

What barriers have I erected for safety and out of fear that I might consider dismantling in order to practice hospitality during this holiday season? 

How can I use what I have to bless others?

What can I cut back on myself so that I have more resources to practice radical hospitality?

“In her book, The Lady in the Palazzo, Marlena De Blasi says, "It's not what's on the table, but who's in the chairs."

Don't misunderstand; food and hospitality are intimately related, but sometimes we need to adjust our priorities. Great cooks and not-so-great cooks often share the same problem: pride and ego can get in the way of connecting with others.

And isn't connecting what it's all about?"

quote: Susan Ely (http://thesharedtable.com)
photo: www.digsdigs.com

           I hear these words about “the poor”

and brush them into the corners of my mind.

I cannot think about them now

I am too preoccupied

with the choice of hors d’oeuvres for my party

and the color of my new shoes.

I am too anxious

about the      impression I make

to decide for diminishing

or to question the givens.

I am too cautious

to risk the highway

that leads away from safe places.

Convenience blankets me,

stifles the clamor of a hungry world.

Sara Covin Juengst in Breaking Bread, the Spiritual Significance of Food
          photo: www.digsdigs.com

"When we speak of hospitality we are always addressing issues of inclusion and exclusion. Each of us makes choices about who will and who will not be included in our lives....It is instead a spiritual practice, a way of becoming more human, a way of understanding yourself.

Hospitality is both the answer to modern alienation and injustice and a path to a deeper spirituality."                                                                                                             

Father Daniel Homan and Lonni Gollins Pratt in

Radical Hospitality: Benedict's Way of Love
photo: www.digsdigs.com

Is Your Heart Open? What Will It Take To Open It?

If your everyday practice is open to all your emotions, to all the people you meet, to all the situations you encounter, without closing down, trusting that you can do that - then that will take you as far as you can go. And then you'll understand all the teachings that anyone has ever taught.

Pema Chodron

                                                    photo by Susan Murphy

Rumi's Awakened Heart

"One day Rumi asked one of his young, snotty disciples to give him an enormous amount of rich and delicious food. This young disciple was rather alarmed because he thought Rumi was living an ascetic lifestyle. Rumi used to pray all night and eat hardly anything. The disciple thought, 'Aha, now I've really got the master — what he really wants to do is to go off somewhere secretly and eat all this food!' So he decided to follow Rumi. He followed him through the streets of Konya, out into the fields, out into yet further fields. Then he saw Rumi go into a ruined tomb. 'I'm finally going to unmask his pretensions,' the young disciple thought. But what he found was a totally exhausted bitch with six puppies, and Rumi was feeding the dog with his own hands so that she could survive to feed her children. Rumi knew that the disciple was following him, of course, and turned to him smiling and said, 'See?' The disciple, extremely moved, said, 'But how on earth did you know that she was here? How did you know that she was hungry? This is miles away from where you are!' Rumi laughed and laughed, 'When you have become awake your ears are so acute that they can hear the cries of a sparrow ten thousand miles away.' 

from The Way of Passion: A Celebration of Rumi by Andrew Harvey

The Open Heart

"When the heart opens, we forget ourselves and the world pours in: this world and also the invisible world of meaning that sustains everything that was and ever shall be. When the heart opens, everything matters, and this world and the next become one and the same." 

from Ten Poems to Open Your Heart by Roger Housden

May my feet rest firmly on the ground
May my head touch the sky
May I see clearly
May I have the capacity of listen
May I be free to touch
May my words be true
May my heart and mind be open
May my hands be empty to fill the need
May my arms be open to others
May my gifts be revealed to me
So that I may return that which has been given
Completing the great circle.

Terma Collective

Even When Things Seem Bleak, We Must Do What We Can

It was a chilly, overcast day when the horseman spied the little sparrow lying on its back in the middle of the road. 

Reining in his mount he looked down 

and inquired of the fragile creature,

“Why are you lying upside down like that?”

“ I heard the heavens are going to fall today,” replied the bird.

The horseman laughed. “ And I suppose your spindly legs can hold up the heavens?”

“ One does what one can,” said the little sparrow.   

 --Author Unknown

When Akiba was on his deathbed, he bemoaned to his rabbi that he felt he was a failure. His rabbi moved closer and asked why, and Akiba confessed that he had not lived a life like Moses. The poor man began to cry, admitting that he feared God’s judgment.  At this, his rabbi leaned into his ear and whispered gently, “God will not judge Akiba for not being Moses. God will judge Akiba for not being Akiba.”   

 --From the Talmud

I understand hell in two ways. First, there is the this-worldly hell I make for myself and others when I fail to act justly and with compassion. Second, there is the other-worldly hell invented by bullies who delight in sadistic fantasies of endless torture and use these fantasies to frighten others into yielding to their will. I take both hells very seriously.

--Rabbi Rami Shapiro

The more faithfully you listen to the voice within you, the better you will hear what is sounding outside. 

And only he who listens can speak.

Is this the starting point of the road towards the 

union of your two dreams– 

to be allowed in clarity of mind to mirror life 

and in purity of heart to mold it?   

--Dag Hammarskjold

I've learned that you can tell a lot about a person by the way she handles these three things:

a rainy day, lost luggage, 

& tangled Christmas tree lights.    

--Maya Angelou

Action is what separates a belief 

from an opinion.

--Ibu Patel

What Inspires You?

I saw that question: "What inspires you?"  in a book recently and have been thinking about it and how important it is to pay attention to the things that arise in our lives that inspire us....fill us with the urge to do a particular thing. There are many actions to which we can be inspired so the question just flung out there like that is a broad one.


So- what inspires me?


I am inspired by the passion people show for their work or their life. Another thing that inspires me is a good quote. Very often a person's quote lets me see a glimpse of the passion that inspires them. I know that Emerson didn't like quotes much so sorry Ralph Waldo, but in today's fast paced world, a quote is a portable tidbit of insight....inspiration on the go. 


Some of my fave quotes:

When one door of happiness closes, another opens; but often we look so long at the closed door that we do not see the one which has been opened for us.  --Helen Keller

It was a dangerous thing to do, for those who enter the heart of a sacred question and feel the searing heat it gives off are usually compelled to live on into the answer.

--Sue Monk Kidd

I've learned that you can tell a lot about a person by the way she handles these three things: a rainy day, lost luggage, & tangled Christmas tree lights.    

--Maya Angelou

You will find, as you look back upon your life, that the moments when you have truly lived are the moments when you have done things in the spirit of love.    

--Henry Drummond

The important thing is this: To be able at any moment to sacrifice what we are for what we could become.    

--Charles Dubois

The truth is that our finest moments are most likely to occur when we are feeling deeply uncomfortable, unhappy, or unfulfilled. For it is only in such moments, propelled by our discomfort, that we are likely to step out of our ruts and start searching for different ways or truer answers.   

--M. Scott Peck

I am also very often inspired visually by a collection of items that I find in an unusual place. Seeing how a shop keeper displays an assortment of wares on the corner of a shelf or seeing images in a book or a magazine that are arranged in a creative way inspires me to create myself. Years ago I cut this picture out of a magazine. I can't remember which one...I think it was a travel magazine. It shows a shop in Mexico that sells religious icons. The rosaries and images of Mary and the saints are piled together in an organized chaos of color and texture. It is now framed an hangs in my office at home. It remains for me one of my most visually inspiring images.







There are a few books of images and ways of seeing that inspire my creativity. One of these is:







"A Home for the Soul" 
by Iowa architect,
Anthony Lawlor.














The last thing I would mention when it comes to what inspires me is probably the most important thing on the list but the least easy to explain. What inspires me the most is my relationship with what I choose to call The Divine. It is the sum total of all that encourages me, touches me, speaks to me. This relationship is nurtured through the people I meet, the things I read, the songs that touch me, the art that gets my attention, the way that the trees and the flowers speak to me, the wind and the water...yes the water is important. Everything that is in my life informing me, enriching me, educating me.


 I don't really have a picture of this so I have chosen to include one of my drawings here. My drawings were originally begun as a way to pray when words were not adequate and they still remain a powerful form of communication for me. 




What Inspires You?

Happy Halloween...Let's Play!

Let's face it.....most adult humans seem to have lost the desire to play. Somewhere in the process of growing up we learned that playing and being an adult doesn't go together. There are a few of us who persist at trying to infuse our days with play but I have observed that number to be few. ( I don't confuse irresponsibility or using "humor" to insult others with being maturely playful.)



I do think we long to be able to play but we can't allow ourselves what we think is the "luxury" to actually enjoy our play. When we do occasionally forget and have a good time playing we apologize and pay penance by working even harder. That's sad.  Play theorist Brian Sutton Smith once observed that "the opposite of play is not work. It's depression." I think that it might just be true that the more we remove healthy play from our lives, the farther we move away from healthy ways to deal with life. Play helps us to be creative in our problem solving, relieve stress, be flexible, and to be smarter.


Years ago I was planning an evening Vacation Bible School program at a church. The night  was to begin with a meal followed by fun activities for all ages, concluding with a short worship service. During the activity time I tried to plan fun workshops for all ages, hoping that even the adults would find something that called to them. One of the activities I put together was a table where adults could color. I had reproduced large line drawings of famous Bible stories and provided crayons and markers for the participants. The evening of the first session I watched adults look at the workshops offered and make their choices. I was amazed and pleased when I went to the room where the coloring pages were and discovered 6 men sitting around the table coloring, talking, and laughing. Each night after dinner those 6 men came back to color and laugh some more. At the end of the week they thanked me for putting that particular event together saying that they had enjoyed themselves and their companions and that it had been years since they had given themselves permission to play in that way. 




Maybe the adult need for play and our reluctance to seem silly by making time to play is the reason why Halloween is so popular with adults. Costume parties, pumpkin carving, and haunted houses for more mature audiences are in abundance in October.  More than at any other time in the year, adults have permission to dress up and act silly and play at Halloween. What would our lives be like if we incorporated some kind of play into our schedule every week?  With all of the reminders to exercise one might think people would be playing but I suspect that for many of us, exercise has become another chore, like work- something to be endured and do "because it is good for us" but not to be enjoyed.

The trick of it all is to live a balanced life that includes fun and creativity. Maybe this Halloween season is the time to make a promise to treat ourselves to laughing and playing more.

'It is a happy talent to know how to play."
Ralph Waldo Emerson




"It is paradoxical that many educators and parents still differentiate between a time for learning and a time for play without seeing the vital connection between them."
Leo F. Buscaglia


"Play is the exhulatation of the possible."
Martin Buber


"We don't stop playing because we grow old; we grow old because we stop playing."George Bernard Shaw


"Play is a major avenue for learning to manage anxiety. It gives the child a safe place where she can experiment at will, suspending the rules and constraints of physical and social reality. In play, the child becomes master rather than subject.....Play allows the child to transcend passivity and to become the active doer of what happens arounds her."
Alicia F. Lieberman, author of The Emotional Life of a Toddler

The Magic of a Story

Stories are a magical part of being a human. I don't know if other life forms or species have stories they share, but I hope they do. A story has the ability to transcend age and intellect and get to the heart of the matter. I happen to think that sharing stories is the most important things humans do. It is why we make the choices we do about life partners, occupations, where we live, and how we spend our time. Our story is the most important thing we have to share- for it is in sharing our stories that we truly share our heart.

In Zen Buddhism there is a way of teaching known as a koan.....pronounced "koe - on".  A koan is a story, statement, a question - a paradox- that cannot be understood from a rational dissection but may be able to be understood through intuition and spiritual knowledge......(that explanation in itself may be a koan to some of us.) An example of a famous koan is: "What is the sound of one hand clapping?" It is somewhat of a spiritual word puzzle. And....there's no one "right" answer, for the answer is different for each of us, according to our understanding of ourselves and our world.

There is a story I read years ago that has become a kind of koan for me. I think about it often and love to chew on it. I share it here as a spiritual puzzle for you to contemplate. If you wish to share your insights in the comments section that would be delightful, but above all, enjoy your ponderings as you swim in the holy water of wonder and life.

A wise woman who was traveling in the mountains found a precious stone in a stream. The next day she met another traveler who was hungry, and the wise woman opened her bag to share her food. The hungry travler saw the precious stone and asked the woman to give it to him. She did so without hesitation.

The traveler left, rejoicing in his good fortune. He knew the stone was worth enough to give him security for a lifetime. But a few days later he came back to return the stone to the woman.

"I've been thinking," he said. "I know how valuable the stone is, but I give it back to you in the hope that you can give me something even more precious. Give me what you have within you that enabled you to give me the stone."

 

I Wonder as I Wander....

“We are so impressed by scientific clank that we feel we ought not to say that the sunflower turns because it knows where the sun is.





It is almost second nature to us to prefer explanations . . . with a large vocabulary. We are much more comfortable when we are assured that the sunflower turns because it is heliotropic. The trouble with that kind of talk is that it tempts us to think that we know what the sunflower is up to. But we don't. The sunflower is a mystery, just as every single thing in the universe is.”  
 Robert Farrer Capon
Sunflower photo by Susan Murphy

“People travel to wonder at the height of the mountains, at the huge waves of the seas, at the long course of the rivers, at the vast compass of the ocean, at the circular motion of the stars, and yet they pass by themselves without wondering.”

Augustine

  




"The most beautiful thing we can experience is the mysterious. It is the source of all true art and all science. He to whom this emotion is a stranger, who can no longer pause to wonder and stand rapt in awe, is as good as dead: his eyes are closed." 
Albert Einstein