Another December overshadowed by the darkness, or at least that’s how it feels this year. I feel torn between trying to put on a brave face and wanting to hide until after the new year.
Mindfulness has become popular buzzword the last few years and there are several different working definitions of the practice. Most people use it to mean becoming aware and focused on the present moment.
A member of our writer’s group recently attended an online conference for ER physicians and there was a session on keys to happiness which included the idea of mindfulness as the key to happiness. The speaker claimed that being mindful even in unhappy and negative situations could still be a tool for happiness. This set off an interesting discussion in our group.
I wondered if perhaps when seen from a Christian perspective, that’s almost like what the book of James was talking about when he wrote to count it all joy. We can’t always be joyful because of the hard things but we can experience joy amidst them.
The letter board in my hallway says
Rejoice, Rejoice, Immanuel.
But the mindfulness conversation reminded me of the next line of that favorite carol
Shall come to Thee, Oh Israel
Rejoice, not because you have already been delivered but because the deliverance is coming. Not because things are good right now but because sometime (even if that is eternity) it will be good again.
We live between the now and the not yet, not wanting to miss either. We can be fully present now while still keeping our eyes set on the things to come.
My therapist used to say when you have negative feelings that linger, don’t run from them. Hang out with them, and call them what they are. If we want times of difficulty to mold and shape us then we can’t try to rush through them or avoid them.
This is a time of year that feels physically dark where I live. It gets darker by the day as we approach the winter solstice. I find myself feeling sad despite this being a favorite time of year. For the struggles we thought we were through that have returned. For the lingering uncertainty and instability both in our home and in the world.
There is so much I could say here about the struggles we are facing and the weariness that rests upon me, but right now the specifics don’t matter.
More than 2000 years ago, the world lay heavy and expectant of the Messiah’s arrival. In our waiting we have a choice: do we want to dwell in the shadow of death or the shadow of joys to come? Even in moments when I cannot fully count it all joy, I can experience its shadow casting over my current circumstances.
When the light of the world came he cast a long shadow, one that we can stand in. Death no longer overshadows us, we can rest in the shadow of the almighty.
He is coming. I can rejoice in expectant hope.
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