These three familiar old traditions offer us a sacred path to renewal, rededication, and reconciliation, if we let them.
• What goodness do we need to welcome back into our lives?
• Where have we become disconnected from the mystery of miracles?
• What guidance and grace comes by releasing our pride and reconciling with
the sacred?
These few weeks of Advent before Christmas are traditionally a time of preparation to receive a great gift. It isn't one that we can buy on Black Friday or Cyber Monday no matter how good the deals may be. And it isn't about a guy from 2,000 years ago. It's about something inside each of us. What will restore our faith and renew our connection with joy? Music. Laughter. Loving friends and family. Good food. Lights and colors. Gifts from the heart. Generous charity toward those who temporarily have less and need more.
Advent is the arrival of a notable thing, person or event.
You are all three. Be sure to make yourself welcome during this Season of Light. Then make others truly welcome as well.
Christians celebrate the birth of Jesus at Christmas. The man of humble birth with royal lineage, whose appearance as a newborn babe symbolized the reconciliation of human beings with God, was himself called the Son of God. He is the living presence of enlightenment and illumination, knowing his identity as God.
Jewish and Christian traditions also celebrate the Season of Light, as I call it. Hanukkah celebrates a miraculous event when the sacred oil burned in a lamp for eight days, even though there was only enough for one day. The miracle happened at a critical time during the re-dedication of the Temple after a period of enslavement. To the Jews, the miracle was evidence that God knew their needs and blessed their intentions.
What we spend our time and attention on we get more of. This is a universal law of life. We are agreeing with or welcoming and inviting an increase by giving our attention.
In ancient times in the northern hemisphere as the days grew incrementally shorter and darker, the people looked toward the Winter Solstice for the promise of warmth, food and greater ease in living. The Solstice itself was celebrated as a point of power in their year.
What Are You Welcoming?
