“One way to open your eyes is to ask yourself, “What if I had never seen this before? What if I knew I would never see it again?”
I hope you all had a yummy and restful Thanksgiving! My sister’s family came up from NJ and we were able to gather at my mom’s place in Worcester over the weekend to eat and talk, do a puzzle and play a few games, visit a local bird sanctuary and Sturbridge Village, and see the movie Wakanda Forever. Our extended family is small, so it is always good to get the four cousins together. Many thanks to Aaron and Denise for leading the service so you could hear new voices and we could have that time.
In this month of December, the Soul Matters topic for sharing circles and worship is “the path of wonder”. This has brought to my mind some phrases from familiar Christmas carols, like “star of wonder, star of light” from We Three Kings, or “the wonders of his love” from Joy to the World.
Unitarian Universalists have an interesting relationship with Christmas. We put on a huge Christmas Show- THIS WEEK– with the Red Bow Fair! And like much of our secular society, we love and indulge in so many of the pagan traditions that have been merged into the holiday: Christmas trees, carols, special foods and gift giving. We pay attention to the turning of the season, the increasing dark, and wait for the Solstice. At North Parish, we act out the Nativity story (really two very different stories merged into one), and we sing carols with Christian words and read from the gospels on Christmas Eve. We may not be awaiting the birth of “Christ the Singular Savior”, but we await- and are grateful to witness- the birth of love.
How might we wander on a path with a bit more wonder over these next three weeks of darkening days until Solstice and Christmas Day? (Yes, they are just three weeks away!)
Yours, wondering, with my Santa hat at the ready,
Rev. Lee
P.S. Many of us head outside to feel wonder but for those stuck at a computer, the Soul Matters team put together 31 online doses of wonder for the 31 days of December. Like an Advent calendar, maybe it’s a way to start your online day. Here’s the YouTube playlist.