Winter

Winter is definitely here; stiff, dark cold accompanied by harsh winds while night seems to dominate the day. After such an unusually warm autumn we might be tempted to simply endure winter and hasten towards Spring. However, each of the seasons has its own invitation from God. Where might the grace of winter lie?

Winter calls us into our homes to spend more time together. Lighting fires to keep warm, we bake and make warming soups to renew our bodies and souls. The acts of winter invite us to slow down - read that book we've been promising ourselves, take out the board games and remember how to laugh together, finish that knitting project tossed into a corner.

As people of the 21st century, how do we relate to winter? Do we hear the quiet teachings of the earth or do we go blithely ignoring the season. Looking at ourselves in winter can show us a lot about who we are. When the cold of winter stiffens our joints, do we seek warmth to soothe them or do we just carry on as usual, ignoring the gentle whisperings of our body to slow down, to take care. Do we listen to our body's need to do less, sleep more, stay warm? If we're confined because of weather, does it feel strange to have time on our hands or do we welcome the chance to "do nothing."

At first glance it may seem impossible to intentionally make space in our lives for slowing down, but perhaps it is precisely this need that winter offers as a gift. I like to think of it as the Sabbath Season. Do you recall the famous blizzard we had in January 1996? We were confined to our homes for about two or three days and somehow the world went on without our frantic activity; we rediscovered the joy of relaxation, conversation, and simply enjoying this unplanned for free time. Somehow I think it was God's way of forcing us to slow down and pay attention to some deeper needs.

Like the people of olden times, we need to respect winter and the toll it can take on our bodies and our psyches. But, unlike our ancestors we seldom need courage to choose to live, really live, from the deepest essence of our being. We need to choose to listen to the small voice inside us that knows when enough is enough, the one that tells us self-care is not self- indulgence. The one that can only sustain our own generosity of spirit if we take the time we need to renew ourselves.

So, as these winter days grow longer and the light grows stronger, let us dream of the day when we know how to listen to the whisperings of our souls, whisperings that understand that by healing ourselves we have even more to offer the world.

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