So, where DO you find that which is holy?
This Christmas season I have been thinking about the similarities of the story of Christ’s birth and our current culture. Whether you believe in Jesus as the Savior, as Son of God, as an historical person, as a Wisdom Teacher, and/or as one of many incarnations of God in human form, there are lessons to be learned by looking at that ancient narrative.
The story goes that all the peoples were required to go to their home town to be registered and to pay their tax. The city was full of people hustling and bustling, greeting friends they hadn’t seen for a long time, eating, buying and selling, finding a place to stay after a long trip or settling in with relatives for a few days.
Besides paying taxes and registering, there were likely some family reunions, some feasting, some comments about how big the kids have grown over the last year, some griping about the high cost of living and the corrupt government, voices of concern about how to make a living, where to find a job, and how did the crops grow. I get a picture of a colorful, chaotic, loud city, probably with music blaring, animals bellowing, entertainment in the public arenas, and activity everywhere, ranging from pretty opulent and extravagant to quite poor and meager.
Into this chaos comes a poor, frightened young couple and – wouldn’t you know it – her baby decides THIS is the best time to be born! They seek lodging and are turned away over and over again. And if you believe the story, Jesus was born in a barn out behind the Inn with a bunch of farm animals around. Even the shepherds and wise men didn’t show up until later…. and they didn’t bring a casserole or a box of Pampers!
Does any of that sound familiar? Have you been anywhere near, say… New York City… or even your local mall, in the past few weeks? Rushing, shopping, baking, music, family gatherings… Everything but stillness.
One of the best loved Christmas carols is Silent Night, partly because it speaks to us about finding the Sacred in quiet stillness. Just like Mary and Joseph, we need to step aside from the hustle and bustle, the shopping and baking and being with friends and family, and draw apart, away from the noise, and enter into a humble place, surrounded not by the trappings of life, but by animals, trees, rocks, nature, quiet, stillness, and to look for the Holy there. We can be inspired by the majesty of a cathedral choir, or the grand extravagance of pomp and ceremony, but to really connect to our spiritual core, to hear that voice of guidance, to remember our true essence, we need stillness. In order to find God, whatever that means for each of us, we need to go within, to get in touch with our spiritual breath, to listen to the mystery and be awed by it, to get in sync with the sacred rhythm of the universe.
Promise yourself that now the crazy, hectic, fun-filled, and not-so-fun-filled, aspects of this holiday season are drawing to a close, you will commit yourself to establishing a practice of daily stillness, if only for a few minutes. Take a deep breath, meditate, go out into nature, take a daily inner journey, do some Yoga, whatever it is for you that puts you in touch with the Holy. Mary and Joseph had to go off to a quiet corner of a barn. Where do you need to go? The Gathering Inn can offer you a quiet sanctuary for a few days, but you can also find a place right within your daily orbit, where you can be still, silent, and listening. It will be the best gift you will ever give yourself.
I promise.
