Good tidings to you as you tidy your house
Tucking the dust under the rug for your company
If you kneel at the feet of Christ let your heart be open
To your neighbor who lets his head touch the earth to pray to Allah
If you light 8 candles in 8 days, look out your window to admire the lights hanging from the tree across the street
If you read inspiring books to improve your life, remember to look in the mirror each morning and adore just who you see, letting the memories of your past sweep you into your true reflection
Maybe you feel lost or deadened on the inside
Perhaps things have happened that made you that way.
I hope you can find one other person who understands all that you feel and can hold your hand as you walk through the dark, or you find the courage to stand alone and feel the wind, and the stars.
If you find yourself having a difference of opinion, is there a willingness to understand the other? To be quiet enough on the inside to really hear?
If your skin is beautifully dark you may celebrate Kwanzaa
Honoring the seven principals of unity, self determination, collective work and responsibility, community economics, purpose, creativity and faith in your people.
Or you may sit in silence praying to an elephant headed God or a body painted blue with your feet hennaed …
Perhaps you are like me and stand in a grove of trees being held by their majesty
Feeling the earth’s gentle pull to bring you present and alive
Gazing at the sky knowing the church of it all
Moving your body as if it’s a prayer
If you are like me you may ring a bell on the Winter Solstice to mark the shortest day of the year
Walking at dawn with a fur companion as the cold snaps you awake, coming home to warm teas, soup and the grateful comforter to slide under
Secretly happy to be in the fertile darkness
Or maybe you hate winter? Your bones chill and your hair stands on end
And you dream of warm beaches, shorts and sandals
My hope is that we can still live here, harmoniously even though….
Good tidings to you if your English is broken and you are blessed to speak more then one language
If you live with your grandmother and all your cousins in a small apartment in a big city may you feel loved
Perhaps your head fills with science and facts about this life and that is what carries you through…at night when you are still I wish you wonder
As this year turns the corner, my heart finds purpose, I know I am truly here to help, and sometimes that help is sitting and listening to the wind…
Or calling a friend who lost her child
Or loving even though we kick and scream wanting something other then what we have….
Good tidings to you….
In the words of Rumi, wherever you stand, be the soul of that place..

December 2016