Tails of the Creche, Part 2: Coming to Our Senses, Con-Census

In Our Midst, of It All: "I'm really not ready for this". Whether we're trying to approximate a Hallmark Holiday moment, an idyllic Christmas morn for our children, doing our best to re-create, conjure up fond memories from Christmases past, establishing some new traditions in order to break a chain of negativity in your own family tree, or otherwise marking another milestone moment in the life of your family -- those that range from birth on to deaths -- the timing is often not of our choosing, one which finds us ill-prepared, even if we had a bit of advance notice. I have shared here many times now on a professional as well as personal level that, despite outward appearances in my office, patience is not one of my strongest virtues (a reimagined photo from my youth depicting my dinner demeanor, with one leg under the table and the other pointed to the back door in anxious anticipation of returning to play partially reflects this..."Can't I be done now...?"). Despite all the advance planning I might put into a venture (or treatment plan in my office on your behalf), the best laid plans don't always come to fruition, at least not on my time table #%*@!). But, what I lack in patience, being born under the sign of Taurus informs me I am "...tenacious, downright stubborn!" So, I am able to temper my temper with perseverance (again, on your behalf😄): "OK, so it might not happen when I want or planned it, but together, You and I can and will make this happen..." A concession of sorts. And this Christmas, or whatever holiday you are celebrating, has a timing, a mind of its own, in case you hadn't noticed. On this we can all relate, a consensus, an attempt to come back to our senses, after almost 'losing it'. Speaking of senses...

San-sational! Another message I have sent out to you repeatedly here, one not bound to any season, the instrumental value to your well-being of engagements (physical, social, mental/spiritual), including and especially when you are least inclined. A paradox, source of annoyance, this continues to be for many in our midst. No thanks needed from you, nor apology from me, knowing from over four decades of experience and testimonies of thousands now, you will eventually come to appreciate its value, if you practice engaging, perhaps not even in my time. And here and now, this invitation to take just a few minutes, while you least inclined to do so in the midst of hustle-bustle, to come to your senses, engage your senses, to appreciate what marking this holiday is really all about. A study of contrasts in and of Itself. In the case of Christmas, for instance, we can and should engage the vision, the foretold story of how a long history of bondage and darkness, would be pierced with light, first by a bright star in the night, a beacon, a beckoning, accompanied by the glow of some guiding angels, a glow which would eventually hover around (at least depicted by many artists trying to capture the first Christmas) a newborn's head, one which would cast a calm on the parents who had just completed an arduous journey, to come to this place, expectant but not completely prepared. Accompanied by a sense of awe, as well as the scent of animals, the last thing we would probably think about as we prep out holiday feasts...four legged witnesses to this miracle who were also offering up their harmony of bleats and brays in response to the cry of a newborn, what would be experienced as a cacophony to us here and now...scents and sounds that the awe-filled parents either tolerated or even found comforting. A "Midnight Clear", the sights, sounds, scents of which become part of our own reflections, imaginations, calm, if we just come to our senses...

Reaching Con-census: And who would think, even in their wildest imagination, that such a businesslike, dutiful process as reporting to their hometown as part of a count, or otherwise to be taxed (still some theo-historical debate as to the true nature of what prompted Joseph to go to Bethlehem, but there continues to be consensus it was from where his lineage originated, a descendant of King David), would eventuate, be the backdrop of such a sensational moment, eventually to be embraced almost the world over, if only at a secular level in some locales. Something the world, while being divided in so many dimensions, takes time out to mark, acknowledge, celebrate. A scene of which was found on the Western Front, in the midst of WWI, of canon volleys, the torrent of bullets issued from trenches on both sides, from rifles issued to roughly 100,000 combatants, who only a few minutes before had the other in their cross hairs, now found the other shaking their hand. This, after the German and British troops came to an informal, almost spontaneous, simultaneous ceasefire, signaled in part by the appearance of candles and makeshift Christmas trees cautiously placed on the edge of the trench (serving as both haven and hell), an emerging scene, soon to be accompanied by the sweet sounds of carols sung in their respective tongues, initially soothing to themselves, then a volley to their neighbors, and finally a tribute to Another. A Midnight Clearing, in our midst, foretold centuries ago by a prophet, Isaiah, still ours for the taking. 

Tomorrow, here: "Happy (?) Trails from the Creche"