A Happy Holidays Message
21
Dec
Dear Friends,
At this celebratory time of year, many Christians are lighting candles on an Advent wreath in anticipation of Christmas. And our Jewish friends are lighting the menorah of Hanukkah, celebrating the one-day supply of oil miraculously shedding light and warmth for eight days.
Those lights represent such values as faith, hope, joy and peace. They also represent enlightenment. Seeing clearly. Being awake. Engaging fully in life.
I wish for you all, this season, to be bathed in the light of faith, joy, peace and hope. I hope you are able to live life to the fullest, with love guiding you!
I’m thrilled that my book, 8 Habits of Love, will be put to good use as a Lenten guide in a variety of diverse parishes during the new year. We have written a study guide to accompany it, asking such questions as this one:
While our modern culture demands and rewards constant activity and forward progress, we are often told we should ‘take it easy’ in order to be happier. Is this a challenge for you? What are some ways that you achieve Stillness in the midst of a busy life? “Within you there is a stillness and a sanctuary to which you can retreat at any time and be yourself,” Hermann Hesse said. What do you see when you look inside, and become your true self?
I hope that if you have had a chance to read the book, you have found it enlightening and useful in your life. I always imagined learning about the Habits would cause light bulbs to go off in people’s minds—that they would experience aha! moments when something that had been familiar but unarticulated takes on new meaning and relevance. I am hoping that many readers will find 8 Habits of Love to be a thoughtful and thought-provoking gift for their loved ones.
Also, I’m delighted to be able to add China to the list of countries where my ideas about courageous spirituality and love will begin to flow!
May you all have time to enjoy your friends and family, reveling in the Habit of Community. May you show Compassion and Generosity, and receive them too. And please, do not neglect to allow yourself some soul-enriching Stillness, a Habit so many of us find so challenging, yet which rewards us multifold.
As Herman Hesse knew, when we become our true selves, lingering in a moment of enlightenment, of awareness, of consciousness, of waking up to a generative life, that is when we are fully alive—that is when we are fully prepared to engage the world with our love. Happy Holidays to all.
Love,