Christmas Morning (Zoom Only)

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If you don’t have a chalice, but want to light one, check out our Making a Chalice at Home page.

​Beloveds, in this Holiday Season we will experience both joys and sorrows coming and going like waves… our joy will sometimes be loud and boisterous, or soft and gentle. So let us be gentle with ourselves, and let us practice compassion towards ourselves and each other. Let us pay attention and welcome every opportunity to experience joy and to share joy. When everything seems lost, let us have faith that joy is also among the ashes in the shape of Friends who show up to pull us from the wreckage and remind us that we are not alone. Sometimes the best way to feel joy is to give, to help others, to see hope shining in someone else’s eyes. Every time we choose kindness & compassion over criticism or conflict, when we choose to comfort another, we can be sources of joy. And when we are weary and emotionally overwhelmed, let music be a balm for your weary soul…allow music to open your hearts, and let the tears flow, to feel whatever it is you need to feel…the melody of joy may be quiet and soft, but it’s there…available to all to soften the hard and jagged edges of our soul…to remind us of beauty, to bring back hope, and to remind us to be grateful for this wonderful broken/luminous/miraculous world!
From Valarie Kaur I learned the Sikh principle of Chardi Kala. Chardi kala is the Punjabi term for aspiring to maintain a mental state of optimism and joy even during the times of adversity. Chardi Kala is an ascending energy or “high spirits” a positive optimistic attitude to life and to the future. It is a spiritual practice and an attitude that helps one to face hardships and invites us to join in helping others in their hour of need. May we all cultivate the spirit of Chardi Kala.

From Both St Francis and Howard Thurman, I receive inspiration that helps me find purpose and joy this Holiday Season:

Lord, make me an instrument of your peace:
where there is hatred, let me sow love;
where there is injury, pardon;
where there is doubt, faith;
where there is despair, hope;
where there is darkness, light;
where there is sadness, joy.
And
When the song of the angels is stilled,
when the star in the sky is gone,
when the kings and princes are home,
when the shepherds are back with their flocks,
the work of Christmas begins:
to find the lost,
to heal the broken,
to feed the hungry,
to release the prisoner,
to rebuild the nations,
to bring peace among the people,
to make music in the heart.” Amen and Blessed Be. Ashe!