Today we enter December. Even with the weather, the end of the year deadlines, the commercial pressures to spend and give, and anxiety around what January 2025 may bring, this month still carries a spiritual undercurrent. Despite bickering, threats and division, December's spiritual atmosphere holds the promise of a collective longing: Peace on Earth; Good Will to All. December's spiritual undercurrent is not exclusively about the Christian celebration of Jesus' birth; there is no established fact that proves the actual date of Jesus' birth. Some portion of Hanukah's 8 day celebration, as well as ancient pagan rites, have for centuries been held in December. The December solstice was central to early human recognition of the cyclical movement of warmth and light in an annual progression. The cycles of the solar return add to our capacity for awe and wonder, and set the field for spiritual awareness. As the light of our 24 hour day fades quickly, and darkness expands and extends further and further, consider how that alters your personal awareness of your world.
Most Americans have the modern ease of electricity, lighting and heat, food, water, shelter, and systems of safety, work, and entertainment. But not everyone has. Consider those who struggle within your own system of family and friends, neighbors, city dwellers and in the world beyond. It easy to lose that thread of spirituality when cold, dark winter arrives. Then again, we can grow so accomplished or busy with our modern conveniences, that we too, no longer register the mystery of the seasons, and the miracle of night and day in rotation. When we no longer take the time to contemplate the stars of December, we lose our spiritual thread as well.
So this month, I invite you to practicing a new awareness of the mystery of December. Consider, this particular week, a way to bring more warmth and light into your world, as counter balance. I offer a counter balance to the fading natural light, as well as, a way to soothe any darkening of your own psyche, and a way to lift the emotional life of others. This is not about trying to rescue the fallen, or fix the broken. Rather, this is about discovering a gentleness that eases into this season. Try the counter-balance of kindness. This is kindness for it's own sake.
Kindness includes action that is helpful, without any fussing over it, or judging, or expecting another's gratitude. Kindness overlooks the flawed response. Kindness isn't quite the same as Love, but it is a step that opens you to your capacity to Love. It is an awareness that life can be a struggle that is eased by connection, support, and shared awareness. "We are in this boat together", includes those we encounter only once, fleetingly. Yet. our kindness carries impact. Reflect on it, meditate with the feel of it. Most significantly, practice it for a few days.
Kindness includes being kind to yourself, your mistakes and your limitations, your demands on yourself and life in general. If you are kind to yourself, it is easier to extend that kindness to others, even to the way of things, so that life is no longer a combative struggle with the elements, the traffic, the bills.... Kindness includes "doing" and/or "giving", but it is also a look, a gesture, a smile, an unspoken softness. This week, try planting this seed of "Peace on Earth, Good Will to All". (Susan Nettleton)
“Be kind whenever possible. It is always possible.” Dalai Lama
for poetry:
https://www.yourdailypoem.com/listpoem.jsp?poem_id=2330
https://www.best-poems.net/.../what_i_have_learned_so_far...