I remember that most years I have relished Advent.  After all, Adventus, the Latin root our the word, means “coming.”  On reflection, I can feel into the expectant waiting, the pleasures, the promises of the coming weeks.  

This year there seems to be so much craziness in the world, the political weirdness added unto the commercial excesses that overshadow the season, that I find myself needing to take deep breaths to remember the promises of this special season:  the rich, dark days, the inherently quiet time, the opportunity for reflection.  

I was drawn to reflection as a title for this post in part because  of this image of the “supermoon” we just experienced this last weekend.  For me it’s magical, and these magical moments are all around, if I create space and tune in. Then I remember how much I love the seasonal music, festive gatherings together with friends, and I have already celebrated making my Advent Wreathe with its four candles, savouring tea and meditation with the first candle lit, which is one of my real joys of these weeks. 

Celebration, of wreathes, friends, music… brings me to connection, actually a “Reflection on Interconnection” 🙂.  At yoga today our gracious teacher read this quote from Einstein, and as I lay there quietly, itI let it sink in and spread in my body like a healing wave.   (Forgive and see past EInstein’s masculine pronouns… and fill in gender-inclusive terms.)

“A human being is a part of the whole called by us universe, a part limited in time and space. He experiences himself, his thoughts and feeling as something separated from the rest, a kind of optical delusion of … consciousness. This delusion is a kind of prison for us, restricting us to our personal desires and to affection for a few persons nearest to us. Our task must be to free ourselves from this prison by widening our circle of compassion to embrace all living creatures and the whole of nature in its beauty.”  

We can help ourselves and each other to remember the countless and deeply encouraging signs of interconnection, compassion, sanity, balance — innumerable shifts toward more sustainable ways of being and making our way forward — not always on the surface, definitely not in the news, but to be found everywhere we look.  We are all of the one, interconnected, as in Indra’s web, or this exquisite spider’s creation.  Reflection and connection, indeed!

As I have said before, it is my hope and inspiration that these signs and actions will swell to a tidal wave of change for the benefit of all beings, a veritable coming of the light.  Let us all be part of this unfolding in any and all ways we can.  Even in the dark times of the year and of life.

 Jill Schroder is the author of BECOMING: Journeying Toward Authenticity.  BECOMING is an invitation for self-reflection, and to mine our memorable moments for insights, meaning, and growth.  Check the website for a sample chapter, or see the reviews to get a flavor for the volume.  Follow me on Twitter, let’s be friends on Facebook