For the Love of Winter: III

Taking afternoon naps under a warm quilt....

and waking up to this:

Wall

What do you do when you have tried everything to solve a problem and you hit a wall? How do you make peace with the situation? What if people keep looking to you for answers, but none of your ideas will make the problem go away? It is so frustrating. How long do you keep trying? I am ready to move on, but the past keeps pulling me back.

New Lyrics

Today in church we sang Joy to the World. I thought I knew all the words to it - especially since I have been singing it for thirty+ years. Evidently, according to the UU hymnal, I don't. As most UUs know, we have a long tradition of rewording hymns to fit our more inclusive perspective. In all honesty, I don't like this practice. I put up with it because I love the music and the lyrics are mostly secondary to me. Today, though, I have had enough. I want to sing Joy to the World, the way I know it - not in some generalized format to appease the most people. It is a Christmas song. Yes, it is about Jesus, but so is Christmas. I don't understand why we try so hard to deny our Christian heritage. It seems like we are so eager to sing songs with every other religious or non-religious background, except our own. What is wrong with owning up to our Christian heritage and celebrating it just as loudly as we do our other sources? Whether you like it or not, it is our history. As longtime readers know, I do not claim Jesus as my Savior, but I can appreciate his influence on our denomination. I am fine with acknowledging and celebrating that. Maybe, someday, we will all be more comfortable celebrating our past while shaping our future.

For the Love of Winter: II

Last night I was walking Daisydog. It was a beautiful clear night, with the temperature around 30 degrees and no wind. It had been awhile since we had a good long walk and I was really looking forward to it. As we hit our stride and I got past the mesmerizing displays of Christmas lights, I finally looked up. When I did, an old friend greeted me. Orion. I love looking at the stars. It is one of the reasons I prefer to walk at night. Unfortunately, I am awful at recognizing constellations, except for the most obvious ones. Orion is one of those. To me, Orion is a Winter touchstone. Whether global warming throws us all off and it rains instead of snows, is hot instead of cold; Orion will still be there. I love that the earth will still rotate and Orion will always be ready with his bow and arrow. It is an old friend that I can look forward to every year. I love it for that.

For the Love of Winter: I

Many people (alright, mostly Husband) find it crazy that I like Winter so much. Yes, I don't like to be freezing, but there I are several things I really love about Winter. I feel Winter tends to be very under appreciated in the "favorite season" list. Therefore, I am starting a new series of post devoted to how awesome Winter is. Yes, I know it is still technically fall, but, come on, it feels like Winter already.

One thing I love about Winter is how it brings people together. This is the time for closeness. When you are hot and miserable, you tend to keep a space between you and your family or friends. Who wants to be near you when you are sweating so much? But Winter, it is a time to be near each other. We all exude a certain warmth that is magnified the nearer we are. In Winter, we are genetically drawn to be close. Often our spaces are confined to smaller areas (near the source of heat) and we have an opportunity to really be with someone. We welcome people into our physical space. With that, we feel a renewed sense connection with our family and friends. Winter is a time to rebuild our foundation. It is a time to tend to our relationships so that they will flourish through seasons of wandering. I hope you all take some time to be near the ones you love.

Advent

This year I have decided to make an effort to really understand Advent. Admittedly I know precious little beyond that it is observed the four weeks leading to Christmas. Since I don't believe in Jesus as my Savior, I never felt a need to delve into its meaning. I am not sure why, but this year I want the season to be different. I want it to have more meaning. Additionally, my youngest has started kindergarten at the Lutheran School. His teacher has been spending time each day lighting the Advent candle and discussing the "meaning of the season". He has come home wondering where our Advent wreath is. Good question.

Now, how to fit having an Advent wreath into our Unitarian Universalists beliefs? What does it mean to us? This is what I hope to discover in this season of reflection. How can I make this Advent season relevant, spiritual, and meaningful to my family? To me, Christmas is a celebration of all our births and the divinity we all possess. It is a celebration of our enormous potential for compassion and love. I want this message to ring through the season leading to Christmas.

While she doesn't know this (yet), I am using the 26 Days of Advent blog as a starting point. I find her writing to be very thought-provoking. I would strongly encourage any of you looking for a deeper meaning on the season of Advent to read it. While it is Christian based, the ideas and spirit of its thought transcend religious boundaries.

If you are a fellow UU celebrating Advent, I would love to hear what it means to you and your family.



The picture is our homemade Advent wreath. It is a straw wreath with small mason jar candles. I am allergic to most scented candles, so I made some soy based ones. I then tied a ribbon around them. The red one is for the 'celebration' third week of Advent.

Surprising Family Genealogy

I hope you all had a wonderful Thanksgiving. Ours was surrounded by family. I was fortunate that my father was able to make it to represent my side of the family in comparison to the 20 on Husbands side! While he was here, we got to talking about his family history project. Being an engineer, he has developed a meticulous and thorough spreadsheet(s). The amount of work he has put into this project is awe-inspiring (and he isn't even retired!). Since he was here, I finally got a chance to really look at the spreadsheets with him. He had several interesting items to point out. Some I was aware of: we came over on the Mayflower, related to Julia Ward Howe-writer of The Battle Hymn of the Republic, and to Elias Howe-one of the inventors of the sewing machine. What was new and surprising was the fact that I am related to Brigham Young. What?!?! Seriously!?! I am sure that thought would never, ever cross my mind. I had no idea there were even any Mormons in the family tree-then Brigham Young shows up? I always assumed I came from a long line of Catholics. My dad assured me that he requires at least two separate sources before he would even consider it for the spreadsheet. I guess when you start digging in the past, you never know who might pop up.

We got to talking about how hard it is to research deep family history and the challenges he has had. He has traced four branches, but is having a particularly tough time with one branch. Evidently, the family on that side has no interest in sharing details. I find all this history fascinating, but I guess not everyone feels that way. They want to keep their family secrets private. Evidently there are some divorces and who knows what else. To me, the more I know, the better. I can't change what happened in the past. I am not guilty of my predecessors transgressions. I can learn from them, though. I can study my history and grow from their experiences and knowledge. I wish my relatives didn't feel shamed by their past. They are good, wonderful people. The stories of their ancestors doesn't change who they are now. Maybe, in time, they will feel more comfortable opening up. I hope so.

I also hope you take some time to learn a little bit about your ancestors. They might not be what you expected, but they may just enrich your future.