As a contemplative I crave moments of the quiet lull and the stillness of being. That’s my stuff! That’s how I want to live my life. In a real way, I’d like to live from a place of non-reactive centeredness. The only problem with this is the holiday season. As much as this time of year is filled with days off, time with loved ones and varying degrees of attention being paid to the Christ, it’s mostly just filled with activity and stressfulness. And typically my contemplative orientation is replaced with the end of the year meltdown. The anticipation of hope the season of Advent is supposed to bring is coopted by the anxiety real life has to offer. The students I care for are consumed by the hurry that papers and final exams bring. As a Spiritual Director those I guide are riddled with the distractions of the day. An overall uneasiness casts such a thick cloud over so many of us we are fooled into believing the only way to make it through the end of the year is by gathering up all they have within them and grinding it out alone. Then three little words from a young Middle Eastern girl calls all of this into question…
http://www.huffingtonpost.com/eric-leroy-wilson/three-words-that-change-e_b_8814340.html
