The Week of Light, The Week of New

Merry Christmas, friends.

Happy Hanukkah (by the time you read this Hanukkah will have ended). Happy Solstice week.

I’m writing this post December 21, the day of Winter Solstice. I began my morning with a guided meditation facilitated by Daniele LaPorte. Solstice is a time of honoring the natural rhythm of the season. It recognizes the shortest day of the year and the longest night of the year, through the measurement of light. What if we measured our life through the measurement of Light? Our conversations would be vastly different. “Boy, sounds to me like you are dealing with a lot of darkness.” “Do you need some of my Light to help you with this one?” “May I borrow some of your Light? My fire is burning slow today.” What a different measurement (instead of health, money, relationships) and what a different form of interaction.

In today’s meditation we sat on a mountain looking at the vastness of white snow and then projected from our heart space Qualities of God onto the white snow, as a reflective surface which would impact the collective whole. Take a moment right now to do this. Read the directions first, then close your eyes for the experience. Bring yourself up to a mountaintop where you are dressed in layers and are perfectly warm inside. Sit on the untouched white snow allowing nature to support your sitting. Look around at the pristine and beautiful setting. Call up Divine Love, feel it, project it onto the snow (now you can close your eyes). Feel into the expanded energy through this projection. Let it ricochet back to you. Now call forward Joy and do the same. Now Creativity. Now Health. Now Wealth. Now Peace. Now Light. When you are complete, thank yourself (as I do) then head down the mountain and back into wherever you are now.

In spirituality there are a few solid trend lines. Newness is one of them. I often talk about being made new. Seeing the new. Experiencing the new. The birth of Christ Consciousness is a recognition of a NEW energy brought onto this planet. It is recognized, practiced, then embodied. Each year we re-enact and re-experience this ritual. Birth. Newness. Why? Because nothing in form remains the same. Nothing. When we are aware of this ever-changing form to decay to formless to recycle we can place our attention on the edges of emergence and welcome in the new. This is our opportunity and invitation. New is where aliveness is. We recognized the new in our existing and long term relationships. We recognize the new moment when eating a familiar meal. If we are aware, we can notice just a slight shift in the batch we are eating. A different temperature, more of one ingredient or another, the taste of the fresh within it. Recognizing the new HONORS the old, ironically. Many of my friendships have spanned six decades. Each conversation is different. We witness each other’s lives as each twist and turn along with the decision made changes trajectory.

Christmas is a time of welcoming in the new while valuing the Divine Love that exists within the infancy of each person. May this year show growth of this Love in each of us.

Invitation: Spiritual Center Spokane with Reverend Bonnie has a Tuesday night YouTube Talk and Practice every Tuesday at 6 pm Pacific Time. You can watch it at anytime. www.youtube.com/@BonnieBarnard-scs