by Michael Werner
As we gather here today, let us reflect for a moment on our lives here when the meaning of the holidays has changed for us,
When the Winter Solstice reminds us that even in the bleakest winter, the warming spring will return and with it renewal of the earth and ourselves.
When this season reminds us we all go through our own winters and it is the love that is shared that supports us.
When this season reminds us that friends, family and the community we share here today, contain all the real values, joys, and meaning we need. We don’t need presents, just each other’s presence.
This season reminds us to celebrate this time, this place, right now in this world which is all there is and is enough to fill our hearts with joy. We are thankful for our lives here.
When all babies remind us of tenderness and purity,
Then the real work of Christmas and the holidays begins:
to find the lost,
to heal those broken in spirit,
to feed the hungry,
to release the oppressed,
to rebuild the nations,
to bring peace among all peoples,
to make a little music with the heart…
And to radiate the light of love every day, in every way, in all that we do and in all that we say.
Then the real work of the season begins.
Photo credit: by Susanne Werner, sunset over Howe Creek, Wilmington, North Carolina