A little peace under the tree. -

The holiday season is a bit of a paradox for most of us….while we sing of quiet and peace, we are often trapped in a vortex of bad traffic, long lines, too much sugar and not enough time for meditation and rest. After all, everything has to be perfect, right? Our children come home, our grandchildren eagerly await our cookies and pies, and we ourselves are convinced that this year, it will be just as it should be.

It’s that whole “letting go” thing again…acknowledging we really have no control on how things turn out. How irritating is that?

I used to think if I heard Clarice sing “There’s Always Tomorrow” one more time in that dang Rudolph cartoon I was going to throw up. When, I would think, will today just be enough? What can’t what I want come to me now? Are all those Hallmark movies lying to us?

It’s not unlike waking up one day and deciding that you are going to be in tune with the universe. You are going to meditate. Do yoga. Journal. Smudge. Read every inspirational book you can find. After all, you’re not a kid anymore so all the wisdom you have gained should be paying off about now.

Doesn’t leave a lot of space for quiet, does it? For peace…for sabbath?

In “How Then, Shall We Live,” author, therapist, minister and founder of Bread For the Journey Wayne Muller says this:

“Many of us are exhausted by this desperate search for answers, as if our life is a big problem to be solved and we haven’t yet found the trick to it, the perfect solution to the puzzle. After all our investigations, we have still not discovered the answer to our life. We figure we must not be working hard enough. So we push harder, hold on more tightly to the problem, hoping to eventually wring some wisdom from our struggle and set our life on the right course.

“But what if “don’t know” is not a signal to push and work and struggle, but rather an indication that it is time to be quiet and listen and wait? What if the answers to our question bout life and path and practice are already speaking to us, and in our rush to find them elsewhere, we miss the easy, gentle wisdom that would teach us all we need to know if we simply center ourselves and be still for just a moment?”

Be still for just a moment. Doesn’t that sound grand?

So maybe this week, we occasionally just stop.

Breathe.

Take it in.

There are too many leaves to rake…but they are beautiful anyway. There’s a house to clean and food to cook…but really all our guests want is to be with us again. We miss our friends who live far away, and our loved ones who departed the earth long ago…but they are alive in our hearts.

As Rumi said, “Let yourself be silently drawn by the stronger pull of what you really love.” Don’t give in to the frenzy. Turn off the television if there’s too much anger there. Play some gentle music if you’re stuck in yet another traffic jam.

You are naturally wise. You have survived a lot.

And you deserve a holiday season that feeds your spirit.

It’s never easy. It probably won’t feel right the first few times you try. That’s okay. Think of as leaving a door open. Eventually, peace will poke its head in.

Before you know it, you’ll be old friends.