The wonderful illustration above is an Icon, defined by the dictionary as “the representation of a sacred personage.” Icons have been in existence for many centuries and are used even now as portals to another world of spirituality. People who meditate with an Icon usually spend quiet time looking at the drawing until it invites them into a deeper level of understanding or awareness.
As a window or a portal, the Icon is a very valuable resource for someone wanting to probe new dimensions of spiritual consciousness. Let’s spend a moment with the Icon above, and let me make a couple of observations. What quickly comes to mind is the biblical story of Joseph, Mary and the infant Jesus in their flight to Egypt when Herod announced the deaths of all male children of a certain age. So, the portal opens for someone who follows the thought pathway of the stressful journey. Think and pray about a fearful journey you have undertaken. Pray for those who are now on such a journey. Let your mind and your heart feel the stress of such an experience. Or, look at their faces. No smiles, no happy countenance. Individually each one feels the dangerous threat. The portal opens and invites you into prayerful meditation on the fears that drive us to run and on the comfort we have in Christ. Or, look at the donkey. Head down, moving very slowly, carrying a heavy burden. See how this works. The Icon pulls you into the story and you become a character, a player.
Sure, it takes practice to feel comfortable with this form of spirituality. But it is worth the effort.
Might I suggest, also, that any object can invite you into spiritual meditation. Trees, the mountain, a flower, birds nesting — just about anything can issue the invitation for a grand experience of touching the Holy through the ancient practice of spiriting looking. Try it. Not just once. Try it until the portal opens and you are invited in. Like I said, well worth the effort.
Good morning to the silent darkness of the new day. In time you will give way to soft light, then the brilliance of the winter sun. You are valued, a friend in our restoring. You are an essential part of this brand new day.
Good morning to all waking animals. Thank you for sharing the earth with us. You are valued for your uniqueness and your beauty. You are an essential part of this dawning day.
Good morning mountains and valleys. How extraordinary you are! You remind us of creation’s diversity, the lush valleys and the stark mountains. You are an essential part of this dawning day.
Good morning to all the fields of grain, ancient forests, and life-giving oceans. You are valued. You give us visions of beauty that feed our souls. You are an essential part of this dawning day.
And good morning to you, friend known and unknown. You and I travel through this day with confident courage and humble awareness that we have the option to create or destroy, to look ahead to what might be or to look back and live in the anguish of yesterday.
Decide now to choose life, not death; to be alive in the moment, not lost in fears and failures; to give love and to receive it. Look! The light comes!
Say good morning to the new day. It is a gift to you. Hold it carefully. Live it wisely. Appreciate.
Uninvited guests can be a blessing or a bother. Sometimes it’s “O boy!” and at other times it’s “O NO! Not you again.”
The grim guest I’m thinking of at the moment is named “What if?” He likes to sneak up behind me and whisper over my shoulder, “What if you make a mistake, a really big one? What if you suddenly speak Norwegian and nobody can understand you? Or, what if a meteor hits you on the head? Or…O my…what if your best friend turns out to be a Republican/Democrat, Progressive/ Conservative, you know, one of those? What if…”
“What if?” is persistent but he’s really not a problem. And that’s because he’s a phony, a momentary madness. When I introduce him to reality, to truth, he wanders off to pick on somebody else.
But he’ll be back. He gets a little charge out of pestering me, I guess. In the end, truth always wins out…and faith.
“What if all this religion stuff is bogus?” And I reply, “Let me introduce you to my friend whose Way is Truth.” Old “What if?” shuffles off, but no worry. My friend is always around.
Yesterday started the countdown. Forty minus one and counting. We are now into the Christian season of Advent, the forty days preceding Christmas. It’s generally understood as a “get ready” time, preparation for the remembrance celebration of the birth of Jesus. I’m just curious…what do you do to get ready? What’s on your checklist of preparations?
On the more secular side, we make sure we have enough Christmas cards. Don’t forget the stamps. We begin early planning for the Christmas meal with family and/or friends. But this year…well. Decorations! Of course, inside and outside. The electric power company loves us. Some of us try to lose ten pounds so we can put it back on from Christmas to New Years. Some of us don’t and we look like Wally the Walrus by New Year’s Day. The planning goes on.
On the religious side, we attend special services at our churches. Well, we used to. This year we will stream Advent across the networks. We read Advent devotional books, focus our prayer experiences more toward Advent/Christmas, and devise other wonderful ways to prepare for what’s coming. Something wonder-filled.
I suppose there is a secular/religious side, too. In that you might include special efforts to care for the poor, the homeless, the helpless…whether they are believers or not. Advent and Christmas bring out the best of our benevolent selves. Everybody makes the list on Christmas.
Now, I’m not a wet blanket, but I’ve heard of people who have to take a week or two off after forty days and Christmas to recover from the joyful season. And they are not all clergy, by the way. So the moral to my story is this. We are in an enforced slowdown environment right now, and we will be, in all likelihood, on December 25. So, let this Advent season be an intentionally slower paced process than in previous years. Use the new Covid definition of time as an opportunity to breath at a normal rate, become more intimately involved with your inner being, think of others as personal blessings, not just people to buy for. Connect. Connect.
The anniversary of Jesus’ birth is going to come whether you are ready or not, whether we like it or not. Give yourself…and give God…the thoughtful gift of your fullest presence to the Good News. As they say in the movies, this Advent can be “the beginning of a wonderful friendship.” Maybe out of this terrible time, into which Advent comes, in which Jesus’ birth is honored, maybe out of this heart-breaking time you will build a memory which will feed your spirit for years to come.
Somewhere in the gift of minutes and hours that make this day, little pieces of hope are playing hide-and-seek. Like a jigsaw puzzle, the pieces will fit together snugly, creating a picture of hopeful joy. I hear a voice asking, “Would you like to play? Do you want to find the joy?”
I read about a man who uses the alphabet as a guide for his morning gratitude meditation time. He sits in a quiet place, calms his mind in the silence, and then begins his alphabetic journey. “A: I am thankful for…” “B: … C: …” and so on. So, this morning, the day after Thanksgiving Day, when he got to the letter “T” he paused and considered his gratitude options. “I am thankful for Tom (a good friend) …” Or, “I am thankful for beautiful Trees that glow in the cool Fall of the year…”
And then it hit him. It was the day after Thanksgiving, remember. Yesterday was a wonderful memory because all the family members gathered at his house (pre-Covid time. Remember those days?) and they had a delicious meal together, played games, sang songs…had a great time. But the very best thing, nestled in his remembering, was the iconic symbol of Thanksgiving Day +1…the turkey sandwich.
So, he continued his prayers, having found the appropriate blessing matching the letter “T”. “I am grateful for Turkey sandwiches made with two thick slices placed carefully on freshly baked bread then moistened with just the right amount of mayonnaise, and…”
As he pushed his desk chair back and got up, he was heard to say “I’ll finish this in a little while.”
So, in his absence, I’ll add my own ending to his posting. Grateful? You? For? I hope every day is a “thanksgiving” day for all of us. Great big things (G) and Small things (S), momentous and minute (M), always remembered Humbly (H) and offered as an act of Praise (P). Joy (J) fills the hearts of all who take the the time to say “thank you” to the Source of all things, the Providing Presence whose love sustains and satisfies our deepest need.
One click in a random moment, one “yes” to an impulse that moves from brain to hand faster than any computer, and there it is. There it is, an invitation to enjoy all the elements that, in this moment, combine to produce beauty.
The most obvious is the graceful Egret, so lovely in flight. Then the Reflection in the water, soft and imperfect yet vital to the visual moment. She flies toward the Light. Will she enter the opening between the trees or remain with the water. Colors combine to create this peaceful scene…they blend and work together, new creations emerge from their willingness to flow together and yet maintain their own striking identities. Shadows, the leaning curves of the trees, spots on the water’s surface. Everything is important. Each element, without the others, is less than the whole.
Together, they create wonder. What a fundamental life principle, all captured in one random moment, one click.
Strangely and wonderfully made! For all living things that bring joy and wonder to the world, we are truly thankful. For all grace-filled moments and all creatures that make the day grace upon grace, we are grateful. May I trust the currents of the Spirit to hold me up, sacred Breath to carry me on my journey, and indiscriminate Compassion to demonstrate my commitment to the Way of Jesus. May the seeds of Peace, sown in hope, begin to blossom soon.
Shining Spirit 
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