Happy Holy-Days

May every moment,

Every interaction,

Every memory

Be filled with the holiness

of these holy holidays.

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The Significance of Holiday Gifts, Part 3

     During this frenzied, final week of holiday gift-buying, let's take a moment of repose and reflection and look at the final gift Jesus received on the first Christmas.  Let's look at myrrh.

     Myrrh is a reddish-brown dried sap that comes from a thorny tree, Commiphora myrrha, which grows in northeastern Africa and southwest Asia.  Steam distillation of the sap creates an oil which is brown in color and has an earthy scent.  In folk medicine, it can be used for pain, infections, and skin sores [NOTE: do not ingest this oil].  In Jesus' time, it was used for embalming.  In this sense, the Magi were honoring the mortality of the newborn.

     So often, we forget that we are all mortal.  We will all eventually leave this earthly plane.  Allow this thought to color how you treat others, not by being maudlin, but by treating each interaction as if it could be your or their last.  Each moment counts.  Each word counts.  Don't let pettiness and stress get in the way of that realization.  Live in each moment.  Honor the present.  Be the beauty that our world needs.

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The Significance of Holiday Gifts, Part 2

     Last week we were looking at the significance of the gifts of the Magi to the newly-born Jesus and how that meaning can enrich our gift-giving season.  Today let's examine the meaning behind frankincense.

     Frankincense is a white resin from the Boswellia tree and has several uses.  In folk medicine, it can assist with easing arthritis and asthma, improving gut function, and possibly helping to fight cancer.  However, the more common use of the rare and expensive frankincense during Jesus' time was as a perfume or oil used in worship.  In this sense, it symbolizes the divinity of Jesus.

     During this holiday season, let's honor the divine within ourselves and each other.  Let it guide how you treat others and how you treat yourself during this crazy-busy time.  Honor the divinity within each person you meet -- the harried salesclerk, the rude drivers, the delivery people, the people who assist you in everyday life.  And remind yourself that you, too, are divine, and can rise above the crabbiness that normally occurs from being too busy and too stressed.  Breathe.  You are divine.  Breathe.  Others are divine.  Breathe.  Breathe.

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The Significance of Holiday Gifts

     The holidays are fast approaching and I would like to invite you to take a minute, take a breath, and take a seat.  Let's talk about the meaning behind our gift-giving frenzy.

     I was thinking about the original Christmas, as described in the Bible in the second chapter of Matthew (don't worry, I won't preach and I won't pass around the offering plate here).  According to that account, the three Wise Men, or Magi, brought to the newly-born Jesus three gifts:  gold, frankincense, and myrrh.  What is the meaning behind them?

     This week, let's look at gold.  Obviously, gold has monetary value and may have been used to support Mary, Joseph, and the young Jesus when they fled to Egypt to escape King Herod's soldiers who were searching to kill the boy.

     Beside that, gold has the symbolic meaning of royalty or divinity.  In ancient times, gold was a common offering to kings and queens.  So, the Magi were honoring the spiritual royalty within the newborn Jesus.

     As we use our gold, through currency, to buy gifts for the dear ones in our life, let the thought permeate your purchase that we are honoring the spiritual royalty within each person who receives a gift.  Let the habit of seeing others' inner king or queen guide how you treat them in this overly busy time.  Honor the king or queen within yourself as well by taking time to breathe, meditate, and rest.  You deserve to take that time -- you are royal!

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Happy Thanksgiving!

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It's Meditation Month, Part 4

     In our final meditation technique gleaned from Lawrence LeShan's book, How to Meditate: A Guide to Self-Discovery, I would like to share one that has been around for centuries in different forms in different cultures.  This is the Mantra Meditation.

     One we all are familiar with is the often-satirized "Om" meditation.  Either chanted aloud or mentally generated, one focuses on the syllable "om" or "aum," which is the sound of the universe according to Tibetan tradition.

     Other cultures prefer something a little less abstract.  Some prefer simple phrases such as "We are One," or "I am patient/loving/compassionate," or even one word:  "Peace."  Whatever you choose, make sure it reflects something that you feel that you need to focus on in your life at that time.  What you focus on, you become.

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It's Meditation Month, Part 3

     We have been exploring different meditation techniques this month, and I found another one that might be useful in Lawrence LeShan's book, How to Meditate: A Guide to Self-Discovery.  Remember how I said it dates from 1974?  I have a fun quote to share in a little bit that reflects those times.

     In this meditation, you can sit or lie down.  Then, without inwardly verbalizing the experience, you focus on some rhythmic occurrence within your body.  An easy one would be to put your hands on your lower abdomen and focus on the sensation of your hands rising and falling with each breath.  What is difficult is to avoid trying to control or modify one's breath while focusing on it.

     OK, here is the quote about a variation on this technique from LeShan, back in groovier times:

One self-generated rhythm that has been used by some people is the pulse rate.  This is observed either in the moving of an artery or the artery is palpated.  I strongly recommend not doing this without the constant supervision of an experienced and medically trained teacher.  It is very difficult in this one to avoid modifying your own pulse rate, and anyone who plays around with his own heartbeat is this fashion needs either a good psychiatrist or a certificate of entry into the nearest home for the feebleminded.

    OK, then!  You have been warned.

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