Life coach and Zen Master David Rynick reminds us that, “In a true encounter with another human being, we come face to face with the mystery of life. In some way, every other person, no matter how well we know them, will remain as mysterious to us as a country across the ocean we only read about in books….” Perhaps that is a disconcerting thought, especially as you finish your holiday preparations this week including selecting just the right gift, just the right delicious morsel, just the right words to give to someone you care about. We can feel so much pressure at this time of year—pressure to get it right, to not make a mistake, to have everything go beautifully and smoothly, to stave off disappointment.

My prayer for you this week is that you treat your precious selves with the gentleness and kindness you so willingly bestow on others, even and maybe especially strangers. That you remember that within you, too, resides inherent worth and the right to be treated with dignity. That our lives unfold mysteriously, with so much outside our control.

We have so many hopes, both small and large, for this time of the year. Hope for what we will find in our Christmas stockings and under the Christmas trees. Hope for reconciliation, for meaningful celebration, for internal and external peace. We have so very many hopes, that the disappointments and the less-than-perfect moments can unduly surprise and jar us. And suffering at this time of year seems so much harsher, so much more unfair. During the mystery of a night of profound love, when the birth of a child is said to save the world, all the injustice that persists seems at odds with our efforts and work, with our hope.

So as this season unwinds, allow yourself to open to the unknown and the surprising. Approach even the people most familiar to you with curiosity and reverence. And may you all remember, each and every one, that you are loved, you are worthy, you are welcome, and you are needed. May you feel it so, today and every day.

I look forward to seeing you, even in church, and especially in the New Year.

 

Blessings and best wishes, Rev. Rita