Death & Rebirth at Christmas

No matter what your religious or spiritual beliefs, the irony of a divine birth in the middle of the winter of earthly death inspires faith. Harvest complete, farming dormant, our earthly cycle of seed-to-life lays at rest in the winter months. Instead, the birth of a heavenly idea springs forth each year in the midst of a barren blanket of cold and dark, and our faith in the world renews itself. Death of earthly life – whether animal or vegetable or human – merely represents greater spiritual cycles. The symbols of true power lie not in the longest lifespan or fertile soils, but in the resilient spirit within each of us to perceive and experience an awakening of greater good amidst our darkest days.

Plant new seeds

After the harvests each year, the cycle of sustenance begins anew. A waiting period for the planting season provides the opportunity for us to reflect on the harvest and plant the seeds of food we prefer and need to sustain us. Freely and deliberately, we plot out rows of seeds, carefully balancing between various edible families of food to ensure our crops provide variety and succulent nutrition. Measuring distance between the seeds, our sowing allows for growth and development of the plants so they thrive when the time is right. We tend the garden with nourishing water and fertilize the soil to provide the opportunity for an abundant harvest. Then, we wait for our effort to sprout and grow.

In our Spiritual gardens, we must also take great care to plant only the seeds of thought and desire that will result in our greatest crop of abundance in the future we choose to create. We must consciously align the rows of beliefs and intention, and allow room for what we truly want in life to blossom and grow to the fullest potential. We tend the garden of our faith with careful reaffirmation of positive thoughts and appreciation, knowing that the seeds of our prayers will flourish under the loving attention of our spiritual work. And then, we rest while the Infinite grows all the components into place.

Harvest your greater good

The Winter Solstice signified regrouping and giving thanks for food for the winter. In colder climates, the solstice marked the beginning of the starvation months of January through April, and a celebration including feasts, slaughtering animals for food and storing crops strengthened chances of survival. People stored wine, food, grain and more to sustain them in the harsh months.

Like the agrarian society of centuries past, our Spiritual farmers use the Christmas season to regroup and give thanks. We face the New Year soon after the solstice, and with it comes the uncertainty of survival of new ideas and experiences. Under the shining star of wisdom, we give birth to new possibilities and ways of thinking and soon after, we leave our past behind and dare to use the resources of our soul we stashed away for the cold days of our life’s work. We celebrate the end of one way of life in the present year, and move forward, sometimes reluctantly, into new beginnings knowing no matter how intensely we dig our heels into the old calendar and our old ways, time progresses and we must move with it. While we build upon on our past collection of beliefs and practices, we find when we harvest our greater good, it appears differently than before. Transformed by time and aging, our spiritual good fermented like fine wine into greater blessings than we imagined. Like good stewards of the crops of our life work, we bless the ideas healthy for us, and discard any notions diseased with the mould of self-doubt and negativity.

Give thanks for bountiful cycles

From Christmas to Easter, to Summer and Fall, we recognize and enjoy the life cycles of time and earth’s gifts. Similarly, we must remember to appreciate the cyclic nature of our awareness as it shifts naturally with maturity and responds to life experience. At every turn, gratefulness enhances our lives and enriches the soil of our contented hearts.

At Christmas, we reflect upon what we grew this past year through the garden of relationships, for the crop of consciousness serves as building blocks for the coming year. When we reserve enough good in the storehouse of your soul, life finds a way to sustain us through difficulties and challenges. Death of old dusty attitudes and ideas offers us the opportunity to sweep away what no longer serves us and clears the path for new information and enlightenment. In the center of the clearing, lies the opportunity for a rebirth of Spirit, moving us ever forward toward an abundant future.

Marlene Buffa Taking a quiet sideways glance at life, Marlene offers insight through her words from experiences. . A student of new-thought teachings, Marlene finds practical spirituality around every corner and seeks wisdom through observation of life’s inter-relationships. Sometimes playful, sometimes poignant, always thought-provoking, her writing inspires readers in meaningful ways.
www.wordsofmind.com.