KS&L 87 Holiday Service Part 1 by Tina Erwin

       The holidays are a great time - so we think.  The truth is, most people who do the lion’s share of getting ready for the holidays are frequently overwhelmed with the volume of work that is required to get it all done.  The regular schedule of day-to-day responsibilities is magnified with the endless list of extras. 

       We are also overwhelmed with the concept of the neediness of so many people. Someone's child is sick, someone's relative is dying or has died, it is the anniversary of a death for another person. The homeless shelter needs volunteers, your church is doing charity work and your office has adopted a family to give to at Christmas. Some people are irritable and angry in November and December and we dread living through this time with them. So with all that comes up in this window of time, we quietly ask ourselves: Is it really worth it? Is it really worth the volume of energy to get ready for Christmas or Hanukkah? 

       The answer is more complicated than we think. The answer may center on our concepts of service. What is service?  

       Service is frequently giving money, time or effort to someone in need. It is the giving of ourselves. This is easy to recognize.

       However, there are other types of service that we would be wise to honor, namely the service of getting any type of celebration together. It isn't just this time of year; it can be any time of the year.

       The neighbor who decorates for Halloween, the mom who never misses making the favorite birthday cake, the welcome home celebration for a service member, the delight of a Valentine's dinner or a 4th of July cookout. The Thanksgiving Dinner with a cast of thousands is a tremendous service as well. Few people appreciate the volume of planning that goes into feeding all those people, plus the decorations that accompany the food, the candles, the greens and the creative effort all create the atmosphere for any celebration. All these things are service - these creative efforts of love made visible are also spiritual service. This takes us to December. Part II will help us make some sense out of this challenging month.

KS&L 334 Holiday Cards by Tina Erwin

         It is hard to believe that the Christmas holidays are here again.  The Jewish Festival of Lights has also begun.  While there are lots of faiths not represented in this title, this is the month of special celebrations for these two faiths.

          There are many concepts of loving and sharing that symbolize this time, maybe the best symbol is just love.  While pondering the concept of love, perhaps we should consider why people send out holiday cards.  Why do some people send a card with a printed address and signature?  Is it just routine, another chore to send cards or to give a gift or gift card?  Perhaps it is not.  To be on a card or holiday gift list is to be thought of with a special feeling.  Maybe we do not send cards to people we see each day which is OK. We send cards to people in our lives that we do not see, because something about the connection is special and we do not want to break it.  Maybe the karma is not yet exhausted and we keep it going with our cards and often e-mails.

          Creating a card for someone, perpetuates a connection, letting him or her them know that they are still in our thoughts.  Why is this important? It is important because there is a part of us that wants to stay connected to so many wonderful people. This is why from a Feng Shui view, saving those cards, saving all of those tremendous wishes is saving, honoring the intentions of all the people who spent the cost, the time, the effort and the intention of sending something to us, of thinking of us. Perhaps we have wondered why we bother with cards each year. Maybe, we need that connection, maybe we need to now what things are happening in other people’s lives, that there is a lot of life going on all over the place.

          Holiday newsletters seem irritating to some people, but again, someone reflected on their year. They shared their lives with us. Some newsletters are just perfect. Some reflect the challenges that this year posed including the death of a family member and the impact of fires or floods or tornados. Most people reflect on the milestones of their year, their travels - how they explored life this year - and how they interacted with family and friends. When we read these letters, we see life happening all around us, from the ordinary and the mundane to the electric moments that challenge us.

         So perhaps as we reflect on all the festivities and organization required of the holiday time, we can come to understand that creating a holiday atmosphere free from strife, comfortable, beautiful with cards, food and gifts is a great service, not a chore. Love comes in many forms and all the effort we put into giving of our time and effort really does matter in the most subtle and humble ways. Often the effort alone is a gift - the gift of love we give each other. Happy Holidays everyone!

KS&L 89 Wellness in December by Tina Erwin

       If we listen to the press, print, radio and TV, we will surely feel that the whole world is unwell.  It may seem like an inevitability that a person won’t be healthy at this time of year.  We who study metaphysics know inherently that this is simply a lie. No one ever has to be unwell.

       Imagine if the press for just one week reported how healthy the country is, how this December people were the healthiest they have ever been!  Imagine if the press reported smiling faces and empty medical waiting rooms. Imagine if people did not need to be ill. Imagine if people were proud of their wellness - safe and secure in the knowledge that they crave wellness and happiness because they care for their bodies so much and value their health. Imagine if the group mind believed that they could be well all the time. So, why can’t we think like this? Why does it seem people continue to be unwell, especially now?

       Many people seem to need the attention that illness brings. 

       Many people seem to need the excuse to rest that illness brings.

       Many people cannot manage their time so that they are not stressed, so illness is their only way to get out of things.

       Many people heard their parents say that they were always sick at the holidays. Many people remembered childhoods full of sickness in December, it became their norm.

       Many people only received love from their parents when they were sick.

       Many people suffered a death or terrible grief in Nov/Dec and that memory subconsciously brings on a cold or other illness in place of straight forwardly addressing grief.

       Many people are lonely this time of year and an illness gets people’s attention or love, if only for a little while.

       There will come a day in the very near future when illness will simply be a thing of the past, something we no longer need. If we sense “something coming on” then we have the tools to look within ourselves and figure out why our subconscious thought we needed to be ill. We can then address that emotional need and heal the physical body. When emotional needs are met, the body stays in a state of physical balance.  When emotional needs are chronically unmet, the body remains in a chronic out of balance state and becomes vulnerable to illness. No pill, potent, powder or shot will change this. It is just how it is.

       The only way to be perennially healthy is to heal that underlying emotional issue that triggers any type of illness. This applies to every single affliction that affects the human body: all of them.  While this may sound challenging, it is truly the basis of pristine health. It is learning that people die and that we can heal from a death. It is opening our hearts to others and learning to recognize the many facets of love. It is love itself. . . And isn’t this really the message of December?  Love after all is what this is all about. Love the body enough to give it loving rest and release from stress. We are inherently wise when we can love with all of our heart.