Rev. Jennifer Nordstrom, Senior Minister.
What does it mean to be a people of Stillness?
Is stillness strongest right before a bell is rung, or just after its last vibrations quiet? Is there greater stillness in the taut of anticipation, or in the exhaustion after an occasion? Where do you find stillness in your life, your mind, and your body?
Many years, when we enter December, there is a mighty hustle and bustle around December holidays. This year, however, as we enter December in the height of a resurging coronavirus pandemic, the roads are quieter, and many homes hold the glow of only the single household. Many rituals this time of year center around gathering, but this year we are being invited to stay home.
What can Stillness offer as we navigate the losses of our usual December rituals?
Stillness this year may not be a balance for our lives, but rather its center. Even as we recognize the grief of losing our usual rituals of connection, we can also mine this center of stillness for sacred use. Stillness offers space for breath, for depth, for contemplation. Grief is a storm that can also include quiet and rest.
There are rituals to contain us. Rev. Dena wrote in the November Chanticleer newsletter about setting up sacred space in your home for the holidays. We have Christmas Kits to share with you to connect you with First Church this Christmas Eve. And together in worship, religious education, and small groups, we will explore the gifts Stillness has to offer us in this strange, terrible, yet still pregnant-with-beauty, December.