December is also a season of light: How might we reconnect, remember and reflect this month?

#UpliftingMessage

With plunging temperatures, inclement weather, and darkness ascendant there’s a natural desire to find warmth, shelter, and companionship. As 2021 ends, families and communities across the state, nation, and world gather in different manners to celebrate together.

Last year, COVID-19 upended the traditional ways we normally celebrate December. Traditions that knit us together like travel to visit family, shared meals, sacred rituals, and common gatherings were shelved. Since then, vaccines arrived and for many of us this December’s festivities will be our first since 2019. So much has changed since then; how might we enter this season acknowledging this new opportunity overladen with a deferred December 2020?

Let us first celebrate that we can reconnect!

Regardless of whatever else may have transpired between December 2019 and now, the ability to travel safely to distant family affords us an opportunity to reknit familial bonds. We may once have taken for granted the sharing of lodging and laughter together under the same roof. We now know how treasured it is to be able to reconnect in person.

Let us also remember.

There are likely faces that are no longer present around the table since December 2019. Plan beforehand how to acknowledge and memorialize their absence at meals. There are likely additional faces around the table as new couples and new children find their places. How will they be welcomed to become part of this season’s new memories?

Let us finally reflect.

For all of December’s darkness it’s also a season of light in many traditions. Candles are lit in Advent wreaths, Chanukah menorahs, and Kwanzaa kinaras. Whether celebrating the enlightenment of the Buddha or the lighting of a Yule log, this month offers opportunities to reflect light, warmth, and welcome across different communities and traditions.

How might we reconnect, remember, and reflect this month?

Rev Sybrant has a Masters in Divinity, Social Work, and a Doctor of Ministry. For more information, visit us at 15050 SW Weir Road www.murrayhills.org | 503-524-5230