Get Ready Already!
I think
November may well give me whip lash this year.
In the midst of the holidays coming toward us like a train, there is
something that I know: it’s not too
early to prepare. In order to prepare to
NOT do the holidays in fast forward autopilot,
I believe we need to start making intentions and now in early November. At least internally (trust me, I am not
saying we need to have our Christmas lists ready to roll!), we need to be ready
for December before it is December if we are going to live the holidays in
special and meaningful way.
Which brings
us to Advent. Advent is full of meaning, sentiment and deep joy for me. The definition
of Advent is: the arrival of
a notable person, thing, or event. It
begins the Sunday after Thanksgiving and consists of 4 Sundays and weeks of
content and attention preparing for the arrival of the Greatest Gift, and incorporating
it into your holiday season. I have
found it to be game-changing
if I approach it intentionally. It can be the thirst quench for that thing we instinctively know…tinsel and shopping leave us exhausted. The Greatest Gift leaves us deeply satisfied
and calmly hushed like a lullaby.
Most people
associate Advent with lighting a pink or purple candle once a week for a few
weeks…but there is deep and rich soul-focus to be had if we explore this tradition
a layer deeper.
The context
of this gift that Advent can be is rooted in what ancient social rhythms tell
us. Our souls naturally long to turn inward
during this time of year. Draw us to dwell. Linger. Outside, there is growing darkness in the daytime. There
is a harvesting as we reap the bounty of the year. That comes with a paring down of chaff and tilling
the old into the soil to prepare for new. Amidst these outward pictures, there is an invitation to do the same
internally. A newsletter from one of my
yoga teachers says it so well, I won’t try to put it in other words:
“The
perennial truth is that what is to come forth in the next cycle must first be
nurtured in the dark, must in fact be fed by the cycle that came before. And so
we mark the turn to the darkness with the play of shadow in Halloween, we take
in and celebrate the harvest of the year in the feast of Thanksgiving, and await
the light's return in Diwali, Hanukkah, and Christmas.” --Gina Minyard
Our outside lives during the holidays
create a backdrop that doesn’t cooperate with this slowing down and introspecting
that would be otherwise natural. The centripetal force of the holidays swirl
us to the peripherals of our being with its pace and demands and away from our
Still Center. Just as trees shed
leaves and grow still and dormant, doing the work they need to prepare for the
vibrancy of spring…we crave that shedding of limitations and turning still and
dormant to “store up what we need in our hearts” (Luke 2:17) for what comes
next. The parts of us that hinder we feel drawn to peel which creates fertile soil for our next place of being in
our story.
Sometimes,
(most times?) this requires patience. Maybe,
in the middle of the holiday hub-bub, we long to plop in our prayer chair and
move into meaningful reading and focus on the heart of Christmas…only to be
hopelessly pestered by the to-do’s in front of you for the day. Maybe we feel incongruent as we sing “All is
calm, all is bring…sleep in heavenly peace”, and feel a clench in our chest
because of all we have to get done ASAP. It’s a collective experience we all rub up
against. My recent favorite insight into this stuck place is found in
the following quote. It pours grace all
over that frustration as it explains the mechanics of it:
“The soul is like a wild animal –
tough, resilient, resourceful, savvy, self-sufficient. It knows how to survive in hard places. But it is also shy. Just like a wild animal,
it seeks safety in dense underbrush. If
we want to see a wild animal, we know that the last thing we should do is go
crashing through the woods yelling for it to come out. But if
we walk quietly into the woods, sit patiently by the base of a tree, and fade
into our surroundings, the wild animal we seek might put in an appearance.”
-Parker Palmer, A Hidden Wholeness
I love that
this quote invites us to have patience and skill in the seeking and connecting.
I love that it highlights that we cannot
hearken or invoke a worship shaped heart experience at will. We have to wait for it most times. And it is so worth the wait for your most
authentic self to show up with just the shape you need to fit “square peg in
square whole” into your desire for the holidays.
So…in the
spirit of such… Join me in study and on the mat for a 4 week Advent series. We’ll walk quietly into the woods of the
heart in order to connect with the meaning all around us this season. We’ll find practices that cultivate that
connection and find muscles to flex in order to get to that part of your heart
when you feel pulled out of Christmas whack. And we will celebrate! We’ll find
ways to make much of the joy extended to us.
You don’t have to come to all 4 – just come to whichever you
like. Our time each week will have 3 components:
we will look at a bit of everyday pragmatic strategy for how to walk through
the season well, a time of slowing our mind and bodies down physically through
yoga, and a centering around a message in Scripture that ties into the theme of
that week of Advent.
Sunday December 6th 3:00 PM - 4:30 PM
Sunday December 13th 3:00 PM - 4:30 PM
Sunday December 20th 3:00 PM - 4:30 PM
Sign up by sending me an
email, or clicking here: http://holyyogaatjordanstones.weebly.com/
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