Sabbath Messages > Sabbath Message: Dec. 18, 2004
Good Sabbath
December 18, 2004 "Spirit: the life principle in human beings; soul sense"
"Whatever that be which thinks, which understands, which wills, which acts, is something celestial and divine and must necessarily be eternal." (Cicero)
"It is impossible that an ill-natured person can have a public spirit, for how should he love ten thousand, who never loved one?" (Shenstone)
When better should we think about spirituality or soul than at the time of the Holydays. when the sounds of beautiful music engulf us, when charity and benevolence make souls come alive, when gifts are bought and given and when we think of others before ourselves?
The soul is the compass of our mortality; how we spend the moments on earth learning, experiencing, finally learning to care, caring to share.
O Lord, we thank Thee, once again
Thinking back to our youth
When self-pleasures and gifts
Centered our lives
When Dad became Santa
And shopping focused more than it should--
And later we learned that giving was better than getting
That the pursuit of gifts was part greed and part youth,
Unless it was learning how happy we could make happen
With thoughtfulness,
that shared and built our souls.
Winter approaches warily, for frozen spirits do not promote spirituality unless lending a taste of deprivation. The Holydays beckon our memories and our faith, trading in practicality for spirituality. To some the nearness of new year means a new line of cars, a more streamlined look, a diet that mirrors self-image; to others--growing older-- amazed that a year has gone by with such alacrity.
For Frances and me a time of family, of course remembered, but too out of sight. as distance creates a moat of absence, when e-mail becomes greeting cards, and memory has to suffice. Then there is that annual joining together, to light the candles, to sing the songs, to converse with each other, the ancient ad libing brilliance of "what's new". You hope that illness has not bred absence, that God's blessings can be shared without pain.
You purge your brain of political thought, rather an appreciation for what is beautiful: youngsters blossomed between rare visits, smiles that giggle to the surface, forgetting diet to please the pallet, being together in peace and harmony. like a song remembered--no self pity--but making yourself better than complaining against absence.
We are a strange breed we humans; we need privacy except when we are desperate for companionship, for the lonely do not heal by prayer, but rather through togetherness; that the shared presence is not limited only for moments, but becomes a newly minted habit when time is self-created to share.
"The true art of memory is the art of attention." (Johnson)
"It is one of the most beautiful compensations of this life, that no one can sincerely try to help another without helping ones self." (Shakespeare)
The Holydays are also for remembering the faces of the parents who are now in heaven, of spouses and friends who went too early, of warriors who were too young to meet their Maker. To remember is to honor with love those we have learned to miss, with less pain, as distance of event salves the soul. Yet our souls can also soar through the memory of those without whom we never thought we could live.
O God
Please protect Bill in battle
And embrace Tim, Alec, Carole and Parents who
Became immortal
And are with You
As we are meant to be
As Fate's mysteries unfold.
Have wonderful days together with those you love and who need each others' appreciative embrace, by simply being together, again, still and forever.
sandy
