Food for the Soul | December 23rd, 2020

12/23/2020 

Dear Friends,  

We have been traveling together over the last four weeks through the wilderness of the desert, through the darkness of our lives, and talking about birthing of new things, about order-disorder-reorder. Our waiting is over. The Christ child is about to be born. But as the great mystic of the 13th/14th century, Meister Eckhart, says: “What good is it to me if Mary gave birth to the son of God 1400 years ago and I do not do the same? We are all meant to be mothers of God.” He continues to say: “The seed of God is in us…Now the seed of the pear tree grows into a pear tree, a hazel seed into a hazel tree, the seed of God into God.” But he also insists that the seed requires a “good, wise, and industrious cultivator” to grow into God. Question for you to ponder: How can I give birth to God?  

The triptych in the photo above was made by artisans from Peru (remember, I grew up there?). I like the down-to-earth depiction of the Nativity on the ground floor, and the music with its more celestial quality on the second floor, closer to heaven.   

My wish for you all is that you find God within yourselves; that you radiate God all around you. May you be joyful in this season, may peace reign, may you be healthy, and happy.   

PRAYER 

In the Bleak Midwinter  

  by Cristina Rosetti 

In the bleak midwinter, frosty wind made moan, 

Earth stood hard as iron, water like a stone; 

Snow had fallen, snow on snow, snow on snow, 

In the bleak midwinter, long ago. 

Our God, Heaven cannot hold Him, nor earth sustain; 

Heaven and earth shall flee away when He comes to reign. 

In the bleak midwinter a stable place sufficed 

The Lord God Almighty, Jesus Christ. 

Enough for Him, whom cherubim, worship night and day, 

Breastful of milk, and a mangerful of hay; 

Enough for Him, whom angels fall before, 

The ox and ass and camel which adore. 

Angels and archangels may have gathered there, 

Cherubim and seraphim thronged the air; 

But His mother only, in her maiden bliss, 

Worshipped the beloved with a kiss. 

What can I give Him, poor as I am? 

If I were a shepherd, I would bring a lamb; 

If I were a Wise Man, I would do my part; 

Yet what I can I give Him: give my heart. 

PRACTICE  

Practice self-care, self-compassion, self-love. Breathe deeply, do a body scan and let go of all the tensions. Light a candle and just rest in its light. Maybe the answer to the above question will come to you during the silence. 

POEM 

 

Christmas Light 

 by May Sarton 

When everyone had gone 

I sat in the library 

With the small silent tree, 

She and I alone. 

How softly she shone! 

And for the first time then, 

For the first time this year, 

I felt newborn again. 

I knew love’s presence near. 

Love distant, love detached 

And strangely without weight, 

Was with me in the night 

When everyone had gone. 

And the garland of pure light.