December Musings

“How can it be December already?” I don’t know how many people I’ve heard say this! It is remarkable how quickly time passes when we are going about our business of daily living. Suddenly, the next big date is here, and we realize all the things we didn’t get done that we had planned to do before now! Maybe I shouldn’t attribute this to all of us, but I bet more of you can relate than cannot!

As I think about the Christmas Story, I wonder if Mary experienced anything like this. I can only imagine that she and Joseph had plans. Even in their day, in that culture, there must have been dreams and feelings like what we know today. Wedding, home, children, all the excitement that comes with engagement! (Luke 1-2).

The big difference is that Mary’s time was cut short. It didn’t sneak up on her like it does to us. An angel visited and she and Joseph’s life was changed forever. Even the trip to Bethlehem seemed last minute as they arrived to find no room available in which they could stay. Today we would say “What poor planning! How did they not get on Google and find a place before they left town?!”

And here we are, six days before Christmas. Whether Christmas is celebrated or not, there is a real presence of the season around us. The stores push aside the common, everyday merchandise to make room for trees and sleighs and decorations from which we can select by theme or color or smell. It impacts all our senses as well as our cents. And, if we aren’t careful, we end up pushing aside the important for the sensory, spending too much time, money, and energy on decorations and gifts, and not enough on those we are doing this all for, including ourselves.

According to www.numerology.com, the number six is a symbol of completeness. Maybe you remember Math classes teaching about Perfect Numbers. Six is recognized as the first perfect number by the Pythagoreans, a Perfect Number being when all the number’s divisors (except itself) add up to equal that number. (I had to look it up!) Hence, 1+2+3=6 is the first Perfect Number. And in the Bible, man was created on the sixth day. It was a good day according to God Himself! (Genesis 1:24-31).

So, we have six days. Let’s make the most of them by reversing the trend. Let’s push aside the busy-ness of the season and focus on the important, our family, our friends, ourselves. Most of what is left to do can be set aside and not missed. Do what is absolutely necessary, but remember, it is absolutely necessary to stop, to breathe, to muse, to love those with you, and to enjoy not just the presents from each other, but the presence of each other! The days are too short to miss the experience of each one.

May this next six days, and the rest of this year, bring a sense of peace and joy to you and yours. And may the New Year be filled with its continued presence.

Practicing presence,

Bev

Interrupted Thanksgivings

There are some sayings I have heard throughout my life…like “there’s two sides to every coin,” or “it’s a double-edged sword” for example. They are often used to describe situations that are somehow contradictory with themselves. Good old Goggle says these “idioms” show us that there are positives and negatives in the world which are often held in the same container.

I never really thought about these sayings in connection with being thankful, but this year is a little different. I am SO thankful to be in Alaska! It is so far away from the rest of my family. The snow is SO beautiful! Uh oh, there’s ice on the road. I really like my new to me car! You mean I must pay for it? Good and bad, positive and negative…in the same container.

Isn’t that the way life is though? A journey that takes us down the road, not just allowing us, but forcing us to choose how we view the scenery. To quote another idiom, do we see “the cup half full or half empty?” Questions that you might say cause interrupted thanksgivings!

The lesson I’ve been learning is that the healthiest position is to see both. There is no doubt a thankful lifestyle is a positive asset, but in that practice, we must acknowledge the hard side and give it the attention necessary to successfully navigate it. It doesn’t mean I’m not happy to be in Alaska just because there are times when I miss being able to hug my grandchildren. Even in the missing there is growing, for which I can be, and am, thankful.

This Thanksgiving, be thankful! But don’t just put on the face. Think about the reality of our containers. Appreciate the easy, mourn the hard, and “in everything give thanks.”

1 Thessalonians 5:18.