rhythms

“There are greater rhythms that govern how life grows: circadian rhythms, seasons and hormonal cycles and sunsets and moonrises and great movements of seas and stars. We are part of the creation story, subject to all its laws and rhythms.
When we rest, we can relish the seasons of a moment, a day, a conversation. In relationships we sense the rhythms of contact and withdrawal, of giving and receiving, of coming close, pulling away, and returning. To surrender to the seasons and flowerings and dormancies is to savor the secret of life itself.”
Wayne Muller, Sabbath

Christmas is past as are all the preparations that go along with it. Were there things you had planned on doing leading up to Christmas that you just didn’t get to? Like baking cookies, having intimate evenings with family and friends, contemplating the birth of Jesus? I always have the best of intentions but before I know it the season has blown by me and I’ve not gotten to some of things I had planned to do. For example, I bought an Advent wreath last year. I downloaded what it is that one does with an Advent wreath. I could envision myself lighting each candle, saying whatever I was supposed say and being very mindful about this sacred ‘waiting’ period before celebrating Christ’s birth.

So much for good intentions. First of all, I got the Christmas decorations out after the first weekend of Advent. So, I put the wreath in the middle of the table and very unceremoniously put the first candle in. The second week, I didn’t think about it until Sunday night and I again, without any thought, put the second candle in. This pattern continued until I had an Advent wreath complete with all four candles. None of them had been lit, no words spoken over them, no thought given to their meaning.

It is so easy to slip out of rhythm. So easy to not be mindful or attentive to what is happening around me. So easy to set a pace that doesn’t allow me to rest until my head hits the pillow at night. How much do I miss because of ignoring the natural rhythms of the seasons… or day and night – or the intentional rhythms I try to put into place to continue to keep myself aware of God’s presence? A lot.

How are your rhythms? How are you doing at slowing down long enough to pay attention to what is right in front of you? I invite you to consider how you are doing today moving in rhythms with the Spirit. Join me as I look ahead to a New Year and a new opportunity to live into healthy rhythms.

Grace and peace,
Deb

Photo by borkur.net http://www.flickr.com/photos/borkurdotnet/378718814/