Skip to content

Posts from the ‘Christmas’ Category

Nov 29

Wonder and Whimsey

“Whimsy doesn’t care if you are the driver or the passenger; all that matters is that you are on your way.”― Bob Goff, Love Does: Discover a Secretly Incredible Life in an Ordinary World

“Every day God invites us on the same kind of adventure. It’s not a trip where He sends us a rigid itinerary, He simply invites us. God asks what it is He’s made us to love, what it is that captures our attention, what feeds that deep indescribable need of our souls to experience the richness of the world He made. And then, leaning over us, He whispers, “Let’s go do that together.” – Bob Goff

A sense of wonder.
Joy overflowing, without trying.
Time with kids.
A masterclass in delight, awe, whimsy, love.
Connect with the child within.
Invite fun and frolic.
Make space for joy.

“When joy is a habit, love is a reflex.”― Bob Goff, Everybody, Always: Becoming Love in a World Full of Setbacks and Difficult People

Dec 27

2 Comments

Happy Christmastide

“Play is the exultation of the possible.”― Martin Buber

“Christmastide (December 25 – January 5) is about the gradual departure of darkness and the gentle dawning of light at Epiphany. We don’t have to cram all of Christmas into one day. At Christmastide, we shed the pressure of “the holidays” and how we always do things, and take on a new, relaxed rhythm of celebration. Kinder. Quirkier. Gentler.” – Kate Bowler

The gentle dawning of light unfolding.
In slowing.
In playing.
In savoring.
In lingering.
In wandering.
In allowing.
In being, not mere doing.
Enter a relaxed rhythm.
And, of course, dance.
Joy. Hope. Wonder. Awe.
Today and each day, even slivers will do.
Happy Christmastide.

“Time is a game played beautifully by children.” (and dogs) ― Heraclitus, Fragments

Dec 25

Togethery

” ‘Christmas is a togethery sort of holiday.’ said Pooh. ‘That´s my favorite kind.” said Piglet.” — A. A. Milne

“Christmas is not as much about opening our presents as opening our hearts.”—Janice Maeditere

My five great nephews.
Professors of frolic, delight, laughter.
Masters of Christmas as well as everyday joy.
Gurus of play and fun.
Showing the way.
Inviting all in to participate.
A good contagious.
No accident that Christ entered this world as a child.
Witness it all in children and follow the leaders.
The ones who actually have it all figured out.
Awe, wonder, presence, trust, peace, love.
Merry Christmas.
May it overflow abundantly into each and every day that follows.

“The story of Christmas is the story of God’s relentless love for us.” —Max Lucado

Dec 24

Spirit of Love

“Christmas, my child, is love in action. Every time we love, every time we give, it’s Christmas.”― Dale Evans Rogers

“The earth has grown old with its burden of care, but at Christmas it always is young, the heart of the jewel burns lustrous and fair, and its soul full of music breaks the air, when the song of angels is sung.” – Phillips Brooks

Listen.
Connect.
Laugh.
Let go.
Forgive.
Praise.
Awe.
Wonder.
Kindness.
Magic.
Lights.
Color.
Joy.
Peace.
Open heart.
Kind words.
Warm embrace.
The ingredients of Christmas.
Love in action.

“My brothers and sisters, may the spirit of love which comes at Christmastime fill our homes and our lives and linger there long after the tree is down and the lights are put away for another year.” – Thomas S. Monson

Dec 22

Christmas Whisper

“Christmas waves a magic wand over this world, and behold, everything is softer and more beautiful. ”― Norman Vincent Peale

“Blessed is the season which engages the whole world in a conspiracy of love.”― Hamilton Wright Mabie

Quiet for a few moments over the next days to take in Christmas.
The light.
The softness.
The depth.
The roots.
The reason.
No sermons.
No rules, regulations, boundaries.
A simple profound story.
More relevant and needed than ever.
Unconditional love.
Heaven brought to earth.
To walk the path we walk daily.
Saying “I understand” and then some.
The whisper of Christmas is offered to each one of us.
No credentials, membership card or perfection needed.
Cracking the door to let love into your heart.
To heed the call of the soft whisper of “welcome home.”
I am right here with you right now.
Always have been, always will be.
May the answer to the whisper be “Yes!” like Mary’s.
Grace, joy, peace, mercy, delight, awe, wonder.
May all of these be yours in the days ahead and well-beyond the season.

“This Christmas mend a quarrel. Seek out a forgotten friend. Dismiss suspicion and replace it with trust. Write a letter. Give a soft answer. Encourage youth. Manifest your loyalty in word and deed. Keep a promise. Forgo a grudge. Forgive an enemy. Apologize. Try to understand. Examine your demands on others. Think first of someone else. Be kind. Be gentle. Laugh a little more. Express your gratitude. Welcome a stranger. Gladden the heart of a child. Take pleasure in the beauty and wonder of the earth. Speak your love, and then speak it again.”― Howard W. Hunter

Dec 20

2 Comments

More Dancing

“I stand at the window looking out, trying to remember the truths that nature always brings home. That what lies before me is not all there is. That time is ever passing, and not only when I notice. That strife and pain are no more unexpected than pleasure and joy. That merely by breathing I belong to the eternal.”― Margaret Renkl, The Comfort of Crows: A Backyard Year

“December reminds us that the membrane between life and death is permeable, an endless back and forth that makes something of everything, no matter how small, no matter how transitory. To be impermanent is only one part of life. There will always be a resurrection.”― Margaret Renkl, The Comfort of Crows: A Backyard Year

The slowing ensues as Christmas and New Years come closer.
May this season spark joy even in the midst of grief and struggle.
A pause to allow grace and ease, a resurrection in the making.
With the delight of children, a sense of wonder overflowing.
Hope, light and promise.
And by all means dance.

“A person who is not afraid of looking like a fool gets to do a lot more dancing.”― Margaret Renkl

Jan 6

Seeing the Light

“I never made one of my discoveries through the process of rational thinking”― Albert Einstein

“Today the Magi gaze in deep wonder at what they see: heaven on earth, earth in heaven, man in God, God in man, one whom the whole universe cannot contain now enclosed in a tiny body.

As they look, they believe and do not question, as their symbolic gifts bear witness: incense for God, gold for a king, myrrh for one who is to die.” — Peter Chrysologus

On this day commemorating the Epiphany, may you open to wonder, discovery, and awe.
This world so easily hardens us but we are called to be softened, to love without measure, to be kind first.
May peace, joy and hope be stoked and awakened within so you can recognize your own epiphanies.
Followed by sharing your light with the world.

“Truth, by which the world is held together, has sprung from the earth, in order to be carried in a woman’s arms.” — St Augustine

Dec 25

Gifts and Radical Gratitude

“Our hearts grow tender with childhood memories and love of kindred, and we are better throughout the year for having, in spirit, become a child again at Christmastime.” – Laura Ingalls Wilder

“The baby, the star, and the wise men: a story of gifts and radical gratitude. Joy to the world!”― Diana Butler Bass, Grateful: The Transformative Power of Giving Thanks

May the true meaning of home
Belonging
Comfort
Connection
Laughter
Acceptance
Silliness
Generosity
Be yours today and each day
May the story of Christmas be given and received by all
May we carry on changed, renewed and filled with a peace that passes understanding.

“The overarching narrative of the Bible is that of humanity searching for home.”― Diana Butler Bass, Grounded: Finding God in the World. A Spiritual Revolution

Dec 24

1 Comment

R.S.V.P.

“There is a God-shaped vacuum in the heart of each man which cannot be satisfied by any created thing but only by God the Creator, made know through Jesus Christ.”― Pascal

“Sometimes religion gets in the way of God.”― Bono

24 hours.
Suspend judgment, knowing, rightness.
No religion or rules.
Lectures or proclamations.
Ego or smallness.

Enter possibility, wonder and inquiry.
Crack the door just a bit to allow a sliver of light in.
Ponder the story.
A young woman pregnant, cast out.
A husband, not the father, who’s trying to find shelter.
A barn filled with animals and “blue-collar” shepherds not kings.
Witnessing and partaking in the birth of a baby, who happens to be the Savior of the world.

Who would believe it?
The footprints and fingerprints of God becoming human to enter our story.
To understand our struggles and be able to say “I know where you’ve been and I’m walking with you now.”
It’s ridiculous, beyond imagination and comprehension.
Pure unconditional love entering a world that would crucify Him, and still do to this day.

Any yet, and yet, it is not an old story that’s over, but one that continues to this very day.
Born again and again in our hearts, in nature, in the petal of a flower, in the smile of a stranger, in an embrace of a broken relationship being mended, in resentments melted by forgiveness.
If we could only accept the invitation to grace, hope, joy, mercy, peace.
Before you say no, ponder if not for 24 hours, for 24 minutes, even 24 seconds.
Create room in the Inn of your heart.
R.S.V.P. YES!

Merry Christmas, Happy Holidays, Happy Hanukah, Happy Kwanzaa, Merry Open Heart. In whatever you celebrate that brings you beyond earthly bonds to touch the hem of heaven and return ready to take the action of love without condition.

“We must abandon the external height images in which the theistic God has historically been perceived and replace them with internal depth images of a deity who is not apart from us, but who is the very core and ground of all that is.” —Paul Tillich

Dec 23

Yes, Virginia

“Oh, Christmas isn’t just a day, it’s a frame of mind.” — Kris Kringle from Miracle on 34th Street

“Dear Editor— I am 8 years old. Some of my little friends say there is no Santa Claus. Papa says, “If you see it in The Sun, it’s so.” Please tell me the truth, is there a Santa Claus? – Virginia O’Hanlon

Yes, Virginia, there is a Santa Claus. He exists as certainly as love and generosity and devotion exist, and you know that they abound and give to your life its highest beauty and joy. Alas! how dreary would be the world if there were no Santa Claus! It would be as dreary as if there were no Virginias. There would be no childlike faith then, no poetry, no romance to make tolerable this existence.” – Letter to Santa, New York Sun in 1897

May the wonder of these coming days break through and open delight.
May love, generosity and devotion expose beauty and joy.
And may Santa Claus and Jesus be born in your heart.
Peace, hope, light to you and to all.

“Only faith, poetry, love, romance, can push aside that curtain and view and picture the supernal beauty and glory beyond. Is it all real? Ah, Virginia, in all this world there is nothing else real and abiding. No Santa Claus! Thank God! he lives and lives forever. A thousand years from now, Virginia, nay 10 times 10,000 years from now, he will continue to make glad the heart of childhood.” – Francis B. Church Editor, New York Sun

« Older Entries
Newer Entries »