A Season for Christmas

On the eve - of Christmas Eve, I arise at dawn and greet the morning down by the river which is now totally frozen over, for the first time in years. I sit in the biting cold and howling wind and offer prayers, my heart racked by conflicting and deep emotions as I prepare for the birth of God's son, in the shadow of a beloved friend's death...

Inspirations and ideas come for a memorial service I will soon lead, for this wonderful yogini, who touched so many lives in my local yoga community...

I make my way home to the stillness and quiet, to sit and meditate some more, mindful that this Season of Advent is almost over, and in a matter of hours, it will gracefully yield into the Season of Christmas...

Spontaneously, I feel compelled to go get coffee from McDonald's. For a long time this was an almost daily ritual for me, on my way to the river, at a time that was difficult in my life, but it is something I have not done now for a while...

I arrive and am greeted by the beautiful woman who has ministered to me on so many occasions, and amazingly, the place is still, and I am the only one in line. I know, that I was sent by heaven to be here, in this precise moment, when there is no one else around. So we speak of Christmas and its meaning - this woman and I - who represent different cultures and religious traditions, but in fleeting and stolen moments over the years, we have recognized each other as a woman of faith, as our souls have communed deeply on some unseen spiritual level, in a place many would consider an unlikely venue to see the Face of God made manifest...

She tells me she has not seen me in a long time, and we share our souls and passion for God in brief, furtive moments. As she hands me my coffee, she reaches out and cups my hands in a warm embrace - she who did the same years ago on a cold wintry day, rubbing my hands, and warming them for me. But today, we look each other in the eye, and she wishes me a Blessed Christmas. I place my hand over hers, in a bond of perfect love, and I wish her same with all my heart...

I return home, and read through beautiful messages from souls who have touched my life profoundly. I was moved last night, to reach out and let those that matter to me - know that they did. My friend's untimely death, reminds me of the fragility of life, as I meditate in the shadow of Hanuman, who is the embodiment of loyalty, love, and devotion.

I did not wish the year to end and another to dawn, or this season which is truly, the Season of Love, to pass me by without sharing my love for those who matter...

And so I wrote these words, and shared my Christmas Poem for 2010, which I will post tomorrow:

"Like St Paul,
I come bearing neither
Silver nor Gold,
As Christmas Gifts

Instead of Gold
Frankincense and Myrrh--
I humbly offer:
A Steadfast Heart,
Sincere Devotion,
Eternal Love,
Unfailing Support,
Unyielding Loyalty,
And Constant Prayers,
And the Song in My Soul...

For,
"Where Charity and Love prevail
There God is ever found;"
The true Gift of the Season.

I finish my Christmas meditations, and reflect on today's entry on "Following the Star," the online site I have been visiting daily as well, and these prayers, and excerpts, from songs, reach out to touch me and speak to me, with such clarity and insight, at a time filled with so many unanswered questions:

"Unexpected and mysterious
is the gentle word of grace.
Ever loving and sustaining
is the peace of God's embrace.
If we falter in our courage
and we doubt what we have known,
God is faithful to console us,
as a mother tends her own."
~ Jeannette M. Lindholm

"Healer of every ill,
Light of each tomorrow,
Give us peace beyond our fear,
And hope beyond our sorrow."
~ Marty Haugen

"Above all, trust in the slow work of God.
We are quite naturally impatient in everything
to reach the end without delay...
We should like to skip the intermediate stages.
We are impatient of being on the way
to something unknown, something new.
And yet it is the law of all progress
that is made by passing through
some stages of instability
and that it may take a very long time...
Only God could say what this new spirit
gradually forming within you will be.
Give our Lord the benefit of believing
that his hand is leading you,
and accept the anxiety of feeling yourself
in suspense and incomplete."
~ Pierre Teilhard de Chardin

And so, when we need it the most, God speaks in the silence of the heart, and we listen...

May your Christmas be filled with love and many blessings, for in everything and everyone, there comes a gift, waiting to be unwrapped.