The First Day of Christmas by Steve Coupland
As I write this, tiny flakes of snow are falling from the sky, landing on green grass, and melting. The visible landscape around me waits at the intersection of two seasons: fall and winter. Here at Hillside, we also wait at the intersection of seasons: transition and what lies ahead for this community.
Advent is by far one of my favourite seasons. It’s dark, it’s moody, and it names for us all of the weariness of what it means to wait for something. The days are short. The night is long and cold. But more than that, there’s a sense of the unknown ahead. What will the coming year look like for me, for you, for us?
The changing of seasons comes to us as an invitation to locate ourselves. Where am I? Am I happy here? Where am I going? Do I like that direction? Where is God? How is God showing up in my life right now?
In his wonderful essay entitled Seasons, Parker Palmer offers the metaphor of seasons as a lens through which to reflect upon our own inner lives. He writes, “In the autumnal events of my own experience, I am easily fixated on surface appearances – on the decline of meaning, the decay of relationships, the death of a work. And yet, if I look more deeply, I may see the myriad possibilities being planted to bear fruit in some season yet to come.”
Perhaps you resonate with the autumn season. When it starts to get cold, we head indoors. We don’t easily connect with others like we might in spring or summer (with barbecues and backyard celebrations, with street festivals and cool evening strolls). The seasons of autumn and winter cue us to withdraw from relationship, and we more easily isolate ourselves from the warmth of community.
And yet, the seeds that drop in autumn (meaning, the things we let go of) fall to the earth, get buried, and winter’s frost covers them, insulating them to one day spring up as new life emerging from a thawing landscape. There’s a cyclical manner to life, and the same is true of our complex relationships with Christ.
Parker Palmer continues, “Autumn constantly reminds me that my daily dyings are necessary precursors to new life. If I try to “make” a life that defies the diminishments of autumn, the life I end up with will be artificial, at best, and utterly colorless as well. But when I yield to the endless interplay of living and dying, dying and living, the life I am given will be real and colorful, fruitful and whole.”
We individuals and as a community, we are at the intersection of a changing of seasons. Hillside will soon emerge from this season of transition. Spring will arrive to our weary and worn out souls. New life will emerge from the work we’ve been engaged in. I’m reminded of Psalm 126. The Psalmist pens the beautiful picture of planting with tears in order to sow with joy.
Let those who plant with tears
reap the harvest with joyful shouts.
As an aside, there’s a beautiful rendition of this Psalm by Bifrost Arts. You can find it here. The refrain seems fitting: “Restore us oh Lord.”
As we look ahead to the winter before us, we know that winter is a season many of us loathe. The promise of spring lulls us into a longing for warmer days. And too often, we lose focus on being truly present to the season we are in as we daydream of the season to come. Moreover, we may lose sight of what it means to be present to today, to the here and now, that this too is where Christ chooses to meet us. Yes, the harsh, frozen landscape of winter’s arrival is also holy ground.
Herein lies the invitation for us: we can choose to lean in, to look for Christ in the landscape of this tumultuous season, or we can let it pass us by, hoping that the next season is more gracious to us.
Here in this season we find ourselves in – of Christmas, of winter, of cold days and endings – may we tune our eyes to see wonder. May we strive to pay attention to the words of Jesus who offers us rest. May we strive to stay in step with the Spirit who is always with us and ahead of us, nudging us to follow where God is taking us.
Merry Christmas!
You can find a downloadable PDF of this reflection here.
Each day, a new reflection will drop here. We hope you enjoy them and reflect upon, experiencing the presence of Christ in this season.