O won't you stay …?
It's Thor's day . . . a foggy, rainy, otherwise mild day in TulseyTown.
Catching up, the day after Xmas:
Cookies and democracy, from Joyce Vance on Christmas Eve in Civil Discourse.
Today is the Feast of Saint Stephens. Rural Celts still celebrate with The Wren Song which predates St. Stephens, perhaps by thousands of years.
What does it mean to have a mystical experience? A necessary re-creation of Christianity.
[H]oliness is actually our first nature, yet we made it so impossible that it didn’t even become our second nature that we could easily wear with dignity. This core identity was made into a worthiness contest, or a moral contest, at which almost no one wins. This is something we can only fall into and receive—and nothing that we can achieve, which utterly humiliates the ego, the willful, and all overachievers. – Fr. Richard Rohr
If we learn to open our hearts, anyone, including the people who drive us crazy, can be our teacher. --Pema Chödrön
Sharing Light . . .
It's Odin’s day . . . and like many Christmas days I recall here in TulseyTown: Moderate Northerlies, cold to cool, clouds, and rain chances.
If we enjoy what we are experiencing, think of other people and wish for them to feel that. Share the wealth. Be generous with your joy. Give away what you most want. Be generous with your insights and delights. Instead of fearing that they’re going to slip away and holding on to them, share them. – Pema Chödrön
Christmas and Hanukkah Overlap This Year. And, while there are certainly meaningful theological differences between these two expressions of faith, both share a profound sense of gratitude for creation, for time, and for the gift of life itself. – Rabbi Yoshi Zweiback
Heather Cox Richardson sent a Christmas reminder on her blog Letters From An American
A Christmas Almost Haiku
Who is this who lays
in a straw-and-light-filled barn?
A child we yet cannot see.
Hope we would yet comprehend.
– jab
It's still a wonder . . .
It's Tiw's day … Northerlies have returned to TulseyTown with rain and otherwise in time for a mild Christmas few days.
We are in the dark time of winter and the celebration of Yule on the Celtic Wheel of the Year. In contemporary Western society, we have a tendency to associate the dark with evil, with pain, with fear. In the great wisdom traditions, this was not the case. As far back as the paleolthic, people associated the dark with the womb of creation and lit candles – not to chase it away but to celebrate it. – Victoria Loorz, online at Church of the Wild.
Christmas is often a time for memories and reflection. Garrison Keillor shared one of his.
Christmas once brought an amazingly simple border solution to the U.S.at Nogales, Arizona.
“It's a Wonderful Life” is a movie that has struck a cord for many years now since it's release in 1946. Produced and directed by Frank Capra, the Christmas Eve story of redemption culminates in protagonist George's renewed appreciation for his life, despite its hardships. He comes to understand that the value of being here on earth is not measured in wealth or success, but in relationships, community and the small but significant impacts we have on each other's lives.
This morning, Jeff Krasno posted his own version of “It's a Wonderful Life.”
Thank you for the blessings of light you bring into the world, simply by your presence in it. — jab