Perceiving Christmas

 



School finished up about a week ago, along with most of my regular social commitments. This morning, I was struck by a resounding, almost echoing silence, in the absence of some of the voices that have been quite loud throughout the year. It occurred to me that, at the birth of Jesus, Mary and Joseph had also been transported to a completely different space, with new sounds and voices, and the absence of familiar ones. 

I thought about the light that illuminated and guided the people in the story and was reminded of how I tracked Venus across the western sky for several months during 2016. Today, and other days, I perceived the light inside me. I know it as eternity, and it is very peaceful. 

Then I pondered Jesus, in such a vulnerable state, and I felt enormously grateful for those who took care of me when I was a baby. 

At that point, almost overwhelmed, I stopped and listened. Thoughts intruded. A car revved in the neighbourhood. Then I thought about returning to the quiet.

Happy Christmas. I wish you joy. 

Ruth












Comments

Post a Comment

Popular posts from this blog

Butterfly Notes: How Creativity Returned Through Fibromyalgia

Image
  Creativity Doesn’t Go Completely AWOL — Eventually It Finds New Ways to Flow Back in the day, classical music was my second language. Piano, trumpet, French horn — they were part of my vibe and how I communicated. I didn’t just play music; I lived it. (I was pretty ordinary at the brass instruments, by the way, but I had my moments.) About 22 years ago, Fibromyalgia moved in like a speeding road train on the Warrego Highway in Queensland, and my right hand completely seized up. Playing became painful and mostly impossible. For a while, I didn’t know how to find my way back to music — but over time, I softened to the idea that things can be done differently. Turns out, creativity can flutter back like a happy butterfly with more longevity than your average lepidoptera. These days, I compose using Notion Mobile — no strain, just space to breathe. I bring my classical background into this digital world and rework pieces I used to play. Some are gentler, more spacious. Some ar...
Read more

Little spheres on the ground - 5 incidents

Image
I've had a few incidents with spherical items ending up spread all over the ground. Why this is interesting to me at the moment, I cannot tell you but here goes! 1. Recently, I arrived home from shopping and somehow dropped a bag that contained quite a few cherry tomotoes. These small round red things dutifully rolled all around the garage forcing me to exert an inordinate amount of energy hunting them down. Not ideal. 2. A couple of years ago I had a similar incident involving blueberries. The difference that time was that the garage door was open, and seeing as though we live on a slope, the items started rolling down the driveway onto the street. Fun times. I didn't really need to pick the blueberries up seeing as they were organic, outside and not causing too much trouble. It was an interesting spectacle seeing them going down the hill - like slow motion. 3. Years ago, I started working at a new school and there was a beanbag in the room that I was assigned to. My co-worker...
Read more

Feeling surprised - 11 things

Image
  Here are some things that I've found surprising lately: 1. The extent of the ALP victory in the recent Australian election. 2. Windiness and/ or rain nearly every time I visit my smaller school. It makes for invigorating ping pong games. I think a couple of balls are imbedded in the foundations of the new classroom block. The students were told they couldn't be removed. 3. Musical instruments in my classroom at my bigger school, following the flood threat that accompanied cyclone Alfred. (I love musical instruments). 4. Learning that I bowl (cricket but with a vigoro action) at 45 kph which is officially too slow for my younger nephew. 5. Words that young people use. A student recently told me that she felt "glorious" in response to a kindness activity that we did. 6. Other less palatable words that young people used last year. 7. Change in general. Feeling entrenched in situations and then seeing them shift all of a sudden.  8. My drawings. Unpredictable. Aimed at ...
Read more