Merry Christmas/Joyeux Noël
What a full, complicated, and blessed
year this has been! It is always revealing to take stock of what has happened
over the past year in our small part of creation, in the lives of those we
love, and in the greater world. At this time in 2018 we were preparing to head
north for the Winter Solstice, to visit our friends at L’Arche Ottawa for the
Christmas Pageant, and then to feast with the Brooklyn family for Christmas Eve
and Day. Shortly after Epiphany, we spent time with our loved ones in
Plainfield before flying out to Tucson at O-God-Hundred in the morning for ten
sun-filled days with Linda and Larry Schloss. Other highlights included:
v Being with our
friends in L’Arche Ottawa throughout the year, celebrating the marriage of Ross
and Jennifer in Northern California – and spending time with Phil and Julie in
North Beach – before joining Henrietta and Robin for their wedding in Ottawa. A
late summer vacation took us to Montreal, too.
v Making music and
poetry all over the region with precious friends from First Church, Famous before
We’re Dead and the poets of Word X Word in Pittsfield. We built a terraced
garden in the backyard, planted Louie’s Milkweed and Butterfly Garden and
rebuilt our deck with Jon. Finding ways to help our land become a small
Sanctuary of safety and peace will be next year’s priority.
v Dianne continues
to deepen her teaching and editing work with the English Farm as she
participates in growing this innovative enterprise; James launched a new
website to strengthen his small spiritual direction practice. (Check it out @ https://northernjames66.wixsite.com/website.)
Watching our grandchildren grow has been
a thrill: Louie turned 6 and headed off to first grade; Anna celebrated
birthday number two with her infectious gusto, charm,
fullness, and verve.
Like many of you, we grieve the
fear-mongering and hatred that the current regime foments in the US and all
across the world. More and more, the wisdom of the late Jean Vanier resonates:
we can only change what we can touch. So we join with others in practicing the
10 Foot Rule – sharing loving concern in tangible ways with those close to home
– and entrusting the rest to God’s care. The late Henri Nouwen put it like
this:
The
small child of Bethlehem, unknown young man of Nazareth, the rejected preacher,
the naked man on the cross, he asks for my full attention. The work of our salvation
takes place in the midst of a world that continues to shout, scream, and
overwhelm us with its claims and promises. But the promise is hidden in the
shout that sprouts from the stump, a shoot that hardly anyone notices. I
remember seeing a film on the human misery and devastation brought by the bomb
of Hiroshima. Among the scenes of terror and despair emerged one image of a man
quietly writing a word in calligraphy. All his attention was directed to
writing that one word. That image made this gruesome film a hopeful film (for
me.) Isn’t that what God is doing: writing a divine word of hope in the midst
of our dark world?
You are one of the signs of hope and
light in these dark times – the presence of the holy in your humanity – and we
both return thanks to God for you. May your holiday be filled with gentle peace
and your New Year with strength for the journey. With gratitude and love,
James and Di
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