When the wind has stilled, and the leaf-blowing neighbors have stopped, it’s possible to hear the snow fall. The tiniest shards of ice ping like the little crystals they are, part drum and part bell, and all of it the most subtle and magical music you could ask to hear. This is the way we open the holiday season here – with a gentle image of an early snowfall and a simple seasonal song for anyone looking for Christmas, or some sort of Christmas spirit.
I’m not sure that I’m the best person to guide or share anything that relates to the sweet baby Jesus, but if calm and peace and meditative endeavors bring us closer to God, maybe that’s as good as it will get. At the very least, may this be a place where there are glimmers of peace and tranquility, moments of stillness and relative silence when the rest of the world falls to noisy and chaotic pieces. I’d never be so presumptuous as to think I can change the world, but I can change what I decide to put out here, how I tell the stories I want to tell, and which was I decide to go when life demands decisions.
When you listen to the snow, you can listen to your breathing. One’s breath is sometimes all one has, and it’s the most immediately available resource we have for calming the race of the mind. When all else fails, breathe in, breathe out, slow it down a bit… and breathe in, breathe out… and again…
The holiday season is upon us – keep breathing.
