Dear pilgrim,
Snow ever so slightly floated to earth these last days, adding a fresh white cover to our unusually gray winter landscape here in MN. Watching it gracefully fall, I felt a deep longing to leave this year with all its pain and sorrows behind, just like the snow covers the land under a thick white blanket, dampening the noise, breathing fresh crisp air into the old. Now the fresh snow paints a new landscape over the old, leaving just the bare outline of the weathered and worn past, not simply covering it, but transforming it into beauty, redeeming the past.
It is a fine image and reminder of the task before us, on this journey into the 12 Days of Christmas:
We are approaching another threshold, walking towards the night where the old and the new year meet.
A spiritual practice we teach in our retreats is that of pausing within the threshold to gather up the past and anticipate the future. One can do this literally as one enters a room, to become present to what the new room offers, or metaphorically at the beginning of a new task or time.
So in the next days we invite you to walk along with us towards the threshold of the new year, pausing at some point (when ever you can make the time) to gather up the past and survey the future, and then welcoming the first day of the new year with replenished spirits. Jan 2, the first Sunday of the new year we have assigned as a day of reflection for this journey. A time to revisit our journey or a practice. You might chose Saturday instead, or what ever works for you.
Today’s post includes two ways, a brief meditation and blessing to welcome this threshold. And a longer practice below for some deeper gathering of the year.
And so, we invite you to approach this threshold, where the old and the new meet, slowly, patiently, gracefully.
Meditation at the threshold
How can I treat this transition to the new year as a threshold? Which ritual would help to do so?
Where do I ground myself, what has given me stability throughout the year?
What do I want to take with me into the New Year?
What do I want to leave behind?
A Blessing for you
May this threshold between the years
embrace you warmly
with what you bring
and what you want to leave behind.
May this threshold between the years
welcome you and guide you
slowly
patiently
and forgivingly
to new beginnings.
May it be so. Amen.
AF
“Life must be understood backwards but lived forward...”
A Practice of Recollection
We invite you to a time of recollection in the hope it will help you reconcile with a painful year. You can do this on a long silent walk, or by looking back on your reflections of this journey so far, or by taking some time to look with kindness on your life using the practice we provide here.
Søren Kierkegaard, the Danish spiritual writer, draws the image of life's journey in one of his "Upbuilding Discourses" by introducing us to two internal guides provided by providence: One who calls forward, the other who calls back.
The two guides are not in opposition, but work together to shepherd us on the way. The one who calls back looks with clear eyes on the past, on its pain and on its consolation. The one who calls forward reveals with hope the small clarity we might have about the future. Together they guide us on the way, not mired in regret, irresolution, or despair, but instead chastened and encouraged for the journey.
Our task as pilgrims at this threshold is to welcome both guides, the one who calls us forward, and the other one, who "coming along afterward, laboriously gathers up the experience."
You likely know how easy it is to get stuck with just one guide or the other. We are often so worried about our future that we miss to live in the present time. Sometimes we are so lost in regret for failings, or sorrow for losses, or outrage for injustices, that we forget about our hope for the future.
And so the present time, the pregnant moment, the only fleeting time we really have, is when we are able to walk forward while, at the same time, taking our past experience with us. Thus, at this threshold to the new year, when the old has not yet passed and the new has not yet begun, we take this pause. Our guides, if we embrace them, will help us to redeem the year and to cradle hope for the coming one.
Gathering up the Year
Here are some questions for you as you approach this threshold. You might do this practice at one sitting, or across several days. Find a quiet place to journal, perhaps with a candle and a glass of wine. Sit comfortably as you write your reflections and reactions to these questions. Remember, we are on a threshold. From here, we can follow our guides and look both back and forward. We are safe here, with guides to counsel and protect us.
A. Your guides
Now imagine your guides. What do your guides look like, who are they? Do they look forward or back? There may be more than two.
Can you give each a title? Worrier, Complainer, Striver, Hunter, Visionary, Warrior? Pilgrim, Sage, Helper, Navigator, Mother, Monk?
Where do you find the wise voices, how can you hear them? What do they call you to do?
B. Looking back.
What experiences surprised, burdened or challenged you? What gifts, blessings, or painful moments come to mind?
What changes have you lived through, and what insights might the offer?
For what are you grateful? What are you still struggling with?
C. Looking ahead.
What do you want to take with you into the New Year? Which experiences, connections, or relationships do you want to build on?
What are your wishes or hopes for the New Year?
With what or whom do you want to make peace, leave behind, or give closure?
What call is there to renewed commitment or action?
These questions take time. If you are not done at the end of the time you have, make notes that will help you return. Then plan a time to return to this reflection. And end your current time with a pause to breathe and hold gently your gratitude, sorrow, anger, or joy.
Coming back to the blessing
May this threshold between the years
embrace you warmly
with what you bring
and what you want to leave behind.
May this threshold between the years
welcome you and guide you
slowly
patiently
and forgivingly
to new beginnings.
May it be so. Amen.
AF
This post is part of our 12 Days of Christmas Series 2021/22: “Always we begin again…”, a Contemplative Journey towards the heart of Christmas. To enter our virtual gathering space or to subscribe click here. To share your thoughts with us, write us here or comment below. To consult with us, visit our PathFinder.
The 12 Days of Christmas Contemplations are a donation based online retreat. Your gift, any size, will help us pay this gift forward, to sustain this labor of love and keep it accessible to all.
Thank you, thank you.
Peace and Blessings, Almut & Chuck