Tis the season of intense thoughts of gifting. Ran an errand this afternoon and was disheartened by feeling of cheap consumerism that I witnessed amidst the twinkley betinseled shops. Being a musician and a grad student, I've gotten out of the gift giving mode by sheer necessity of bank account. Do I miss it? Not necessarily. I wonder what we are so lacking that we race around flinging stuff into our Target carts. I sense such a franticness and underlying sadness to this festive time. If only we can wrap up things prettily, then life will be fulfilling?
This all fit with my evening reading from Muller's How Then Shall We Live?
"The heart of the most spiritual practice is simply this: Remember. Remember who you are. Remember what you love. Remember what is sacred. Remember what is true. Remember that you will die, and that this day is a gift. Remember how you wish to live."
I think it would be good this year to escape the assumption of commercialism. I'm not going to care what other people make of this time of year - I'm going to ignore the political minefield of Solstice and Hanukkah and just say, "it is what it is." I'm going to squeeze every drop out of Advent that I can, and make merry on Christmas, and sing it all out into the new year, and sing Fa-la-la-la-la, with my ears plugged, about anything else.
ReplyDeleteEveryone is broke, depressed, grumpy and cold. It's winter. We all do this every year. I want to care about something else right now. "Remember" sounds like a good start to it.