Food for the Soul | December 30th, 2020

12/30/2020 

Dear Friends,  

We are coming upon the end of the year 2020. And what a year it was. One of losses, suffering, sadness, loneliness, darkness. “And then, just when everything is bearing down on us to such an extent that we can scarcely withstand it, the Christmas message comes to tell us that all our ideas are wrong, and that what we take to be evil and dark is really good and light because it comes from God. Our eyes are at fault, that is all. God is in the manger, wealth in poverty, light in darkness, succor in abandonment. No evil can befall us; whatever men may do to us, they cannot but serve the God who is secretly revealed as love and rules the world and our lives.” (Dietrich Bonhoeffer, God is in the Manger: Reflections on Advent and Christmas) 

You may have noticed that the days are ever so slowly getting longer, a minute a day or so. We are again moving towards the light even though, as Bonhoeffer says, darkness is good because it comes from God. For me personally darkness means rest, peace, love, freedom and prayer. Light is often considered a symbol of hope. As we begin the New Year let us hope that it may be a better one on so many levels. But not everything from the past should be discarded as we work towards creating a New Normal. We need to discern what to discard and what to develop more fully. 

I wish to thank you for being in the kitchen with me for the last ten months, for walking with me, and seeking a deeper way of being. Over the next two weeks I will be taking a break and will not cook up any Food for the Soul. You may wish to experiment for yourselves; please do share with me. I wish you all a peaceful ending of this year. May God be in you and you in God. 

PRAYER 

 

One Word 

I love Jesus, who said to us: 
heaven and earth will pass away. 
When heaven and earth have passed away, 
my word will still remain. 
What was your word, Jesus? 
Love? Forgiveness? Affection? 
All your words were 
one word: Wakeup. 

-Antonio Machado, translated by Robert Bly, in The Soul Is Here for Its Own Joy 

PRACTICE  

For some people the end of the year is a time to take stock of one’s life; to remember what was good, what we learned, what didn’t work out so well. And then there is, of course, the idea of making New Year’s resolutions. Most people make too many, or too difficult ones to keep up. How about thinking of one small aspect of your life that you would like to improve. Keep it simple; keep it doable. Write it down. Keep it is a visible place. Share it with a friend and ask your friend for support and encouragement. 

POEM 

Remember 

Remember the sky that you were born under,  
know each of the star’s stories.  
Remember the moon, know who she is. I met her  
in a bar once in Iowa City.  
Remember the sun’s birth at dawn, that is the 

strongest point of time. Remember sundown  
and the giving away to night.  
Remember your birth, how your mother struggled  
to give you form and breath. You are evidence of  
her life, and her mother’s, and hers.  
Remember your father. He is your life also.  
Remember the earth whose skin you are:  
red earth, black earth, yellow earth, white earth  
brown earth, we are earth.  
Remember the plants, trees, animal life who all have their  
tribes, their families, their histories, too. Talk to them,  
listen to them. They are alive poems.  
Remember the wind. Remember her voice. She knows the  
origin of this universe. I heard her singing Kiowa war  
dance songs at the corner of Fourth and Central once.  

Remember that you are all people and that all people are you.  
Remember that you are this universe and that this universe is you.  
Remember that all is in motion, is growing, is you.  
Remember that language comes from this.  
Remember the dance that language is, that life is.  
Remember.  
  
-Joy Harjo, in She Had Some Horses