Sun., Nov. 24
Season of Light: Rites of Passage
with Michelle Medrano
As we begin to move into the sacred days of December, let’s refresh our celebration with new activities, rituals, and practices that can have profound meaning for us.
[00:00:01] This is Josh Reeves and you're listening to the Mile Hi Church Podcast. Thanks for listening.
[00:00:05] Hey, December 23rd and 24th are our candlelight services. They are inspiring, revelatory,
[00:00:12] and give you a sense of hope for yourself and humanity. And I don't know about you, but I sure do need it.
[00:00:17] The 23rd and 24th, 1, 4, and 7, and the 7 p.m. are streaming online. Hope you can join us.
[00:00:23] I'm sure you are aware it is time for us to start heading into a series of holidays that are barreling down on us, right?
[00:00:34] And I'm calling my message today Season of Light, Rites of Passage
[00:00:40] because today I think you can think of me like a Hallmark Christmas movie barreling down on you with...
[00:00:52] And I know I have another fangirl right here in the front row, so she and I are going to be probably having some conversations.
[00:00:58] But I'm barreling down with like the love and the magic and the joy and an invitation
[00:01:07] to really walk across the threshold of time into the season with a level of awakeness and intentionality and power.
[00:01:18] This is, for those of you watching online, it's the Sunday before the Thanksgiving holiday here in the U.S.
[00:01:25] And I love what Johnny Carson quipped about Thanksgiving.
[00:01:29] He said, Thanksgiving is an emotional holiday.
[00:01:32] People travel thousands of miles to be with people they only see once a year
[00:01:37] and then discover once a year is way too often.
[00:01:43] So some of us may be heading into that here in the next few days.
[00:01:47] And we're a full-service spiritual community and we want to support all of us,
[00:01:53] whether we're heading into something like that or going to be by ourself
[00:01:57] or going off with family of choice or whatever it is that we're doing to do that with awakeness.
[00:02:03] And then we've got this whole list of holidays in our little booklet that are coming up for us to celebrate.
[00:02:09] One of my favorites is the family Christmas.
[00:02:13] Like the child in me, I don't have a little child anymore,
[00:02:17] but the child in me just adores that holiday, that celebration.
[00:02:22] And Santa is going to be here and that's awesome.
[00:02:26] I'm a little bit upset though that they, the marketing team did forget a few really important international holidays
[00:02:33] that I wish they would have included.
[00:02:35] The first one is Dr. Patty and my birthday.
[00:02:39] They, they're not in there, you know, and I'm trusting y'all are going to be celebrating those for sure,
[00:02:47] no matter what.
[00:02:47] I think Bijou has a birthday too.
[00:02:50] So they got to, they got to up their game a little bit.
[00:02:53] I don't know.
[00:02:53] I might ask him to reprint the whole book.
[00:02:55] We'll just have to see.
[00:02:57] Yeah.
[00:02:57] They also forgot some other ones like, um, Hanukkah is later on in December this year and Kwanzaa,
[00:03:06] boxing day, new years, uh, all sorts of things for us to face together.
[00:03:11] And I know that some of us are probably, um, kind of excited about it.
[00:03:17] And others of us are probably kind of dreading it.
[00:03:19] Like, oh gosh, I've heard people, I've seen people complaining online.
[00:03:22] It's, it's Halloween and they already had the Thanksgiving decoration or the Christmas decorations up.
[00:03:30] And so I know it can be bothersome.
[00:03:35] Another invitation to be unbotherable, right?
[00:03:38] To refuse to be bothered.
[00:03:40] So we're going to step into this today.
[00:03:43] The reason I'm calling this the, uh, the season of light is that a number of years ago when
[00:03:52] I was serving in my church in Arizona, I had a great ministerial team there.
[00:03:57] And one of the people on that team was my good friend and colleague, Reverend Sunday Cote.
[00:04:02] And she was leading our youth and family ministry.
[00:04:04] And she proposed and we accepted.
[00:04:06] And she came up with a new celebration.
[00:04:09] She called it the season of light.
[00:04:11] And she put together these little kits for our families and for anybody in our community who wanted them.
[00:04:17] And if I remember right, it had a, uh, a little wreath in it and then different symbols, uh, that we could use almost like an advent calendar for the weeks before Christmas.
[00:04:28] Uh, and little rituals, prayer rituals, and little things we could do as a family to place those symbols on our wreath each year or each week.
[00:04:37] And it was very symbolic of our faith tradition of science, mind and spirit.
[00:04:43] The symbol of our teaching and some other things that represented what we tend to practice here.
[00:04:49] And yet all had an interfaith element to it.
[00:04:52] That was very lovely.
[00:04:53] And it became a favorite new tradition for many people in our community in Arizona.
[00:04:58] And in fact, a number of communities beyond our church took on the celebration.
[00:05:03] And it became a favorite tradition of our little family.
[00:05:06] And I remember thinking, wow, I've been doing the same thing with the same people in the same way for a number of these holidays over and over.
[00:05:18] And this really expanded my sense of the meaning of the holiday for myself.
[00:05:24] And isn't that what they call insanity?
[00:05:26] Like doing the same thing over and over, expecting different results.
[00:05:30] Sometimes feeling as though I had a good holiday season.
[00:05:33] Other times feeling disappointed.
[00:05:34] But I was doing the same thing.
[00:05:37] And even sometimes expecting people to do the same thing.
[00:05:42] And if they fell out of the tradition, then I'd get mad at them for being untraditional or stepping outside of the box of the traditions that we've always done as a family since 1855.
[00:05:54] Whatever it might be, right?
[00:05:56] And so this really helped me to renew a sense of excitement and joy for the holiday season.
[00:06:05] And this year we've been looking at rites of passage in our community.
[00:06:09] That's been a huge initiative that we've woven into our work together as a family.
[00:06:14] So it seems like during a time when we are faced with so many rites of passages, rituals, traditions that we do, I'm here to invite us to look at it differently.
[00:06:26] Now before you shut down completely on me or try to think, oh, this is another one of Dr. Michelle's trite conversations about the holiday season.
[00:06:35] I'm just going to take a nap here.
[00:06:39] I do want to say that the principles that I'm bringing today, the things that we can do to up our game in terms of our experience of the season of light, are principles we can use throughout the whole year.
[00:06:54] In fact, if we're in a spot in our life where we're feeling bored or uninspired by some element of our life, by our work or our health or our relationships or what we're doing in the world in some regard, these principles are ones that we can use.
[00:07:14] They're very simple. They're very basic, but they're important ones to help us shift our perspective into a fresher place, a more inspired place, a more open-minded space if we're willing.
[00:07:31] And when we do that, the up-leveling of that game allows us to experience an up-leveling of our experience of life, of that particular area.
[00:07:41] So whether you feel you need this kind of inspiration now or not, it's a good time to remember these principles.
[00:07:49] And I would also argue that this time of year is a great time of year to practice these simple techniques with regards to the holiday or anything because the focus during a season like this, just think about this.
[00:08:05] We believe in our teaching of the connectedness of all beings everywhere.
[00:08:10] And on Thursday, a huge number of those living in the U.S. and around the world are going to be focused on something we call Thanksgiving.
[00:08:20] They're going to be focused on gratitude.
[00:08:22] It's almost like the wave of energy that is available to humanity to transform our life through acts of gratitude and energies of gratitude.
[00:08:35] The level of that, the vibration of that goes up a hundredfold on a day like Thanksgiving Day.
[00:08:42] And if you want to ride the wave, you got to wake up and do it consciously.
[00:08:47] You can't be asleep.
[00:08:49] And that's what some of us do.
[00:08:50] That's our strategy for the holiday, right?
[00:08:53] Well, I'm kind of cynical about it.
[00:08:55] It's not been good for me.
[00:08:56] I haven't enjoyed it.
[00:08:57] I don't want to do it.
[00:08:59] I don't want to meet the expectations.
[00:09:01] Here's my strategy.
[00:09:02] I'm out.
[00:09:04] I'm out.
[00:09:05] I'm just not going to stay home.
[00:09:07] I'm just going to not do anything.
[00:09:09] Now, I've had a few holidays back when I was single and Thanksgiving and busy in ministry.
[00:09:14] And I didn't have a lot of friends or family around me where staying at home by myself was a very good choice.
[00:09:21] But it wasn't out of a curmudgeoniness.
[00:09:25] Is that even a word?
[00:09:27] It wasn't out of that sense of anger or frustration or resentment about the holiday.
[00:09:33] It was a matter of self-care.
[00:09:35] That's a completely different choice.
[00:09:38] So let's talk about that.
[00:09:40] What are the principles that we can begin to use to change our experience of anything,
[00:09:47] but especially this time of year and really ride some of the waves of energy that are on approach
[00:09:53] for these things called holidays.
[00:09:56] The first one is very simple.
[00:09:58] We talk about it all the time here.
[00:10:00] Expand your mind.
[00:10:02] Be willing to expand the mind.
[00:10:06] Open the heart.
[00:10:08] So often when it comes to these holidays that approach, we get stuck in the past.
[00:10:14] We get stuck in the past of how it's always been and it's kind of dissatisfying.
[00:10:19] Or we get stuck in the past of wishing it could be the same as it was last year when blah, blah, blah, blah, blah.
[00:10:25] We let, oftentimes, this is a big, huge issue that we humans have got to face and deal with.
[00:10:32] We have got to stop letting the world of effects determine how we feel and approach things.
[00:10:40] And rather, what our teaching says is that when you change the way you feel about things,
[00:10:47] when you change the way you look at things, the things you look at change.
[00:10:53] Wayne Dyer stood on this stage and said that to us so many times.
[00:10:58] When you change the way you look at things, the things you look at change.
[00:11:04] And so being stuck in the past doesn't serve us for creating new potentials in our life.
[00:11:12] And even if we're experiencing pain, we don't believe here, like Cody just sang about,
[00:11:17] we don't believe that if we've had pain in the past or it's been a painful year for us
[00:11:22] or we're in grief or a sense of loss about a loved one who's not going to be here
[00:11:27] or about a situation that's not as we would like it
[00:11:30] and we're kind of struggling with facing the holidays.
[00:11:33] It's not that we suggest a spiritual bypass where we just say,
[00:11:38] it's all good, I'll just put on a happy face and smile.
[00:11:41] But there are ways between saying,
[00:11:44] I'm just going to be sad and depressed and disconnected for the holidays
[00:11:49] or I'm just going to pretend that everything's fine.
[00:11:52] What's in the middle can be very mind expansive.
[00:11:55] Think outside the box for how we can see things differently.
[00:12:00] So we can transcend our pain and include it even in our celebration as a rite of passage
[00:12:07] that can help our healing journey.
[00:12:10] We get stuck in traditions and how things have always been
[00:12:15] and why we want them to be this way.
[00:12:16] All of these, you hear the word over and over again, stuck, stuck.
[00:12:21] To get beyond that stuckness requires expanding our mind.
[00:12:27] Seeing it differently.
[00:12:29] Seeing a possibility.
[00:12:31] Being open to it.
[00:12:34] And experiencing something new.
[00:12:37] My husband Ken and I had a wonderful experience recently
[00:12:40] where we got to do just this.
[00:12:42] We have a good friend, I've talked about him here before.
[00:12:45] His name is Ted Takuichi.
[00:12:46] And Ted is a photographer.
[00:12:48] However, he's also legally blind.
[00:12:51] And he calls himself a blind photographer with big vision.
[00:12:57] Talk about not letting your circumstances keep you from doing what you love
[00:13:01] and what you're passionate about.
[00:13:03] And this past year, through some work that Ted and his beautiful wife Carrie
[00:13:07] have been doing together,
[00:13:09] they have created, taken some of Ted's beautiful artwork,
[00:13:13] some of his landscape photographs he's gone and taken specifically for this purpose.
[00:13:18] And he's been working on a patented process that he's creating
[00:13:22] where he can create somewhat of a 3D version of these landscapes
[00:13:28] that people who are blind or sight impaired
[00:13:32] can experience the art through touch.
[00:13:36] So a number of weeks ago, his beautiful wife Carrie had to be away.
[00:13:40] And so Ken and I volunteered to go with Ted to this conference for the blind
[00:13:45] where he was putting his artwork out in the exhibit hall.
[00:13:49] And we were his volunteers in the exhibit hall.
[00:13:51] And sure enough, pretty soon there's a break
[00:13:54] and it's time for the exhibit halls to be open.
[00:13:55] And all these beautiful blind people come wandering into the space.
[00:14:00] They're so courageous.
[00:14:01] They're walking around in a hotel all by themselves,
[00:14:04] don't know their way around, finding their way around.
[00:14:06] They come up to the tables.
[00:14:08] There's all these different things that they can experience
[00:14:10] that are mostly tactile experiences.
[00:14:12] And they come up to our table
[00:14:14] and they're standing there before Ted's beautiful photographs.
[00:14:17] And he's got a QR code where someone could listen
[00:14:20] to a description of the art they're hearing.
[00:14:23] Or he's got some braille that people could feel.
[00:14:25] But then there's the version of the print
[00:14:28] where a person can touch it and experience it.
[00:14:33] And I stood there.
[00:14:34] Our job was to guide people's hands to the artwork.
[00:14:38] So here we are standing there.
[00:14:41] And I'm taking this person's hand
[00:14:43] and putting it on the photo of the Golden Gate Bridge.
[00:14:48] And I'm describing what they're feeling.
[00:14:50] Right now you're touching the shore
[00:14:53] that's around the shoreline of the bridge.
[00:14:55] And oh yes, as you move this direction,
[00:14:57] those are the Presidio buildings
[00:14:59] that are just below the bridge.
[00:15:01] And as their hand moves up, yeah, that's the span of the bridge.
[00:15:04] And you see the look on their face.
[00:15:08] If you could have that emoji,
[00:15:11] you know that one where the mind goes poof.
[00:15:14] Some of them, they'd never seen the Golden Gate Bridge before.
[00:15:20] And they're seeing it for the first time.
[00:15:25] Others of them had seen it with their eyes in their lifetime.
[00:15:28] But since losing their sight, they couldn't see it.
[00:15:31] And they were remembering.
[00:15:33] And their hearts were so open.
[00:15:36] And they were so amazed.
[00:15:38] They were so amazed that many of them
[00:15:39] were trying to buy the artwork.
[00:15:42] And Ted's not ready to sell the artwork.
[00:15:44] He will be eventually.
[00:15:45] But the thing that touched me,
[00:15:48] I'm standing there watching these people cry
[00:15:51] as they're seeing things like this.
[00:15:54] Beautiful scenes that Ted has created
[00:15:55] for the first time.
[00:15:57] And I'm watching them see them for the first time.
[00:16:02] And thinking, this is how life can be.
[00:16:07] For most of us,
[00:16:09] the places where we're disgruntled,
[00:16:11] we're unhappy,
[00:16:13] we feel disconnected, unsure,
[00:16:16] we're just not seeing it.
[00:16:19] We're not seeing the deeper truths that are there.
[00:16:22] And for people who,
[00:16:23] like for me,
[00:16:24] I'm looking at the print
[00:16:25] and I'm touching Ted's versions
[00:16:27] and I'm going,
[00:16:28] well, that's kind of cool.
[00:16:29] But I know for a person
[00:16:31] who does not have sight,
[00:16:33] their other senses are stronger.
[00:16:36] And so to feel those prints,
[00:16:38] it means that they're seeing it.
[00:16:41] I used to love how the great author
[00:16:44] and speaker, teacher Jean Houston,
[00:16:46] would play with our senses.
[00:16:48] And she would say things
[00:16:49] about mixing up the senses on purpose.
[00:16:53] She would say,
[00:16:54] what would a Thanksgiving turkey
[00:16:57] smell like through your ears?
[00:17:01] Or what would a painting look like
[00:17:05] if you could smell it with your nose?
[00:17:08] Like she would mix the senses up
[00:17:10] very likely to invite us
[00:17:12] to have that same kind of experience
[00:17:15] that people were having that day
[00:17:17] with these paintings.
[00:17:18] It changed my life
[00:17:19] and it will be with me forever.
[00:17:21] And what I know now
[00:17:22] is that when I'm facing something
[00:17:24] that seems tough,
[00:17:26] I know through watching
[00:17:27] those beautiful blind people
[00:17:29] that I need to expand my mind.
[00:17:32] I need to see something different
[00:17:35] to experience something different.
[00:17:39] And that's what's true for all of us.
[00:17:42] And once we start to see this,
[00:17:44] then we get about the second step
[00:17:47] is setting an intention for myself.
[00:17:51] Look, these holidays,
[00:17:53] the calendar that flies by,
[00:17:55] the days that go,
[00:17:56] they don't just happen to us.
[00:17:59] We have a part
[00:18:01] in how they happen through us.
[00:18:03] My favorite quote
[00:18:04] from our founder, Ernest Holmes,
[00:18:06] is nothing in life can happen to us
[00:18:08] that can't happen through us.
[00:18:11] So our choosing right now
[00:18:14] to set an intention for ourself,
[00:18:17] for our Thanksgiving,
[00:18:18] to set an intention
[00:18:19] for whatever holidays we're celebrating,
[00:18:22] that's allowing life to happen through us.
[00:18:24] Otherwise, we're designing our holidays
[00:18:26] by default versus by choice.
[00:18:30] If you just want to have the same old thing
[00:18:33] you've always had
[00:18:33] and the same old experience,
[00:18:35] then don't set any intentions
[00:18:36] and just flow with it.
[00:18:38] But if some part of us
[00:18:40] yearns for something more,
[00:18:42] yearns for a deeper connection,
[00:18:44] yearns for a deeper sense
[00:18:46] of love and joy,
[00:18:48] yearns for more light
[00:18:49] to shine itself
[00:18:50] through our life
[00:18:51] through these seasons,
[00:18:52] we've got to set those intentions.
[00:18:54] And every holiday movie
[00:18:57] from Hallmark
[00:18:57] is exactly in this theme.
[00:19:00] It's like that person
[00:19:01] who's lost their way, right?
[00:19:04] They're a Grinch.
[00:19:05] They're a grump.
[00:19:06] They've had some bad thing
[00:19:07] happen to them in the past
[00:19:08] or they've had someone
[00:19:10] break up with them
[00:19:11] or their business fell apart
[00:19:14] or something
[00:19:14] and they're just kind of
[00:19:16] slugging along,
[00:19:18] going through the motions.
[00:19:19] And then they encounter
[00:19:20] some, you know,
[00:19:23] happy, go-lucky,
[00:19:27] beautiful, happy holiday celebrator,
[00:19:30] like me, maybe.
[00:19:31] And that person somehow
[00:19:35] convinces them
[00:19:37] that they could possibly
[00:19:39] change their ways
[00:19:41] and see it differently
[00:19:42] and then voila,
[00:19:45] they have this opening
[00:19:46] and they find their heart
[00:19:49] and just like the Grinch,
[00:19:50] their heart grows five times
[00:19:51] bigger in their body
[00:19:52] and they have a beautiful
[00:19:53] holiday or experience
[00:19:55] or they fall in love
[00:19:56] or whatever it might be.
[00:19:58] And so that is the theme
[00:20:02] and it's available
[00:20:03] to all of us.
[00:20:04] You didn't know
[00:20:05] you were a Hallmark movie,
[00:20:06] did you?
[00:20:06] But you are.
[00:20:07] So I ask each one of us,
[00:20:09] what are some of the intentions
[00:20:11] we have for this season?
[00:20:12] Here are some of the ones
[00:20:13] that I think people have.
[00:20:14] I wrote some of them down
[00:20:14] that don't always work for us.
[00:20:17] Is my intention
[00:20:18] to exhaust myself?
[00:20:21] No.
[00:20:22] Is my intention
[00:20:23] to eat tons of food
[00:20:24] that just doesn't serve my body?
[00:20:26] No.
[00:20:28] Is my intention
[00:20:29] to see family?
[00:20:33] I love how Deepak Chopra said,
[00:20:35] you want to know
[00:20:36] how spiritual you are,
[00:20:37] go home with your family
[00:20:38] for the holidays, right?
[00:20:40] Yeah.
[00:20:41] Is my intention
[00:20:42] to be something different
[00:20:44] with my family?
[00:20:45] That's a good question.
[00:20:46] Is my intention
[00:20:47] to be overwhelmed
[00:20:49] by the schedule that I keep?
[00:20:52] Is my intention
[00:20:53] to have people be impressed
[00:20:55] with the gifts I give them,
[00:20:57] impressed with my cooking,
[00:20:58] or impressed
[00:21:00] with how beautiful
[00:21:00] my home is
[00:21:02] during the holidays?
[00:21:04] These are not
[00:21:05] horrible intentions,
[00:21:06] it's just that by and large
[00:21:07] if there are only ones,
[00:21:09] that's where
[00:21:10] the emptiness lives.
[00:21:12] Some deeper intentions
[00:21:13] might be,
[00:21:15] is my intention
[00:21:16] to really feel connected
[00:21:17] to the people
[00:21:17] that I choose
[00:21:18] to share this time with?
[00:21:20] Is my intention
[00:21:21] to serve
[00:21:23] and give back
[00:21:24] to others?
[00:21:25] That's why I love
[00:21:26] our giving tree.
[00:21:27] That's a tradition
[00:21:28] for us to give back
[00:21:29] to people who might not
[00:21:30] have a holiday otherwise.
[00:21:32] That is in alignment
[00:21:34] with my intention
[00:21:35] to serve.
[00:21:36] Is my intention
[00:21:37] to find greater
[00:21:39] inner light,
[00:21:41] strength,
[00:21:42] love?
[00:21:43] Is my intention
[00:21:45] that no matter
[00:21:46] what it says
[00:21:47] on the day
[00:21:48] of the month
[00:21:49] for the calendar,
[00:21:50] is my intention
[00:21:51] to evolve
[00:21:52] and deepen
[00:21:53] spiritually?
[00:21:54] If so,
[00:21:56] then I've got
[00:21:57] to set that intention
[00:21:59] and allow that intention
[00:22:01] to have its way
[00:22:02] through me.
[00:22:02] And if I really
[00:22:03] want to up-level
[00:22:04] my game,
[00:22:05] I might write down
[00:22:06] an intention,
[00:22:07] write a paragraph
[00:22:08] about it
[00:22:09] or an affirmation
[00:22:09] about it.
[00:22:10] If I really want
[00:22:11] to up-level it,
[00:22:12] I might even
[00:22:13] write it
[00:22:14] and share it
[00:22:15] with people
[00:22:16] I love
[00:22:16] and who I know
[00:22:17] love me.
[00:22:17] And even
[00:22:18] I could use
[00:22:19] this little booklet
[00:22:20] to set an intention
[00:22:22] for every single
[00:22:23] one of these things
[00:22:24] that I'm going
[00:22:24] to participate in.
[00:22:25] Ooh, look,
[00:22:26] there's some white space
[00:22:27] in there.
[00:22:28] You can write
[00:22:28] in this.
[00:22:30] You know?
[00:22:31] It's a tool.
[00:22:32] So there's opportunity
[00:22:34] for intentionality
[00:22:36] even with this.
[00:22:37] And then with that
[00:22:38] intentionality
[00:22:39] comes the final step.
[00:22:41] It's allowing myself
[00:22:43] to really get in touch
[00:22:45] with the truth
[00:22:46] of those holidays
[00:22:47] and set some
[00:22:49] intentional life
[00:22:50] with them.
[00:22:51] Jean Houston
[00:22:52] not only talked
[00:22:53] about the different
[00:22:54] senses,
[00:22:55] she would talk
[00:22:55] about something
[00:22:56] she referred to
[00:22:57] that Aristotle
[00:22:58] talked about,
[00:22:59] the entelechy
[00:23:00] of things.
[00:23:01] And here's what
[00:23:02] she would say.
[00:23:03] Entelechy is a word
[00:23:04] that Aristotle used
[00:23:05] to describe higher
[00:23:06] guidance and purpose.
[00:23:07] It is the entelechy
[00:23:08] of an acorn
[00:23:09] to be an oak,
[00:23:10] of a baby
[00:23:11] to be a grown-up
[00:23:12] human being.
[00:23:13] Contact entelechy
[00:23:14] and all circuits
[00:23:15] are go.
[00:23:16] Tune into it
[00:23:17] and another order
[00:23:18] of perspective
[00:23:19] is at hand.
[00:23:21] One that comprehends
[00:23:22] the spatial
[00:23:23] and the temporal
[00:23:24] that lifts the earth
[00:23:25] of one seeing
[00:23:26] into another domain
[00:23:27] where love rules
[00:23:29] and the patterns
[00:23:30] of higher governance
[00:23:31] are known.
[00:23:32] Words cannot
[00:23:33] really describe it.
[00:23:35] What is the entelechy
[00:23:36] of Thanksgiving
[00:23:37] for you?
[00:23:38] What is the entelechy
[00:23:40] of Christmas?
[00:23:41] What is the entelechy
[00:23:43] of choosing
[00:23:44] to be with family
[00:23:46] and connected
[00:23:47] with other people?
[00:23:48] Once we've got this
[00:23:49] then we are in
[00:23:51] our intention is pure
[00:23:52] and we can set ourselves
[00:23:53] on a path
[00:23:54] towards aligned traditions.
[00:23:57] Things that work
[00:23:58] even if it means
[00:23:59] changing some things
[00:24:01] or doing the things
[00:24:02] we've always done
[00:24:03] but with a greater
[00:24:04] sense of love and light.
[00:24:06] Honestly,
[00:24:06] watching these
[00:24:07] Hallmark movies
[00:24:08] has showed me
[00:24:09] all sorts of
[00:24:10] interesting
[00:24:11] and fun traditions.
[00:24:13] Like I was saying earlier
[00:24:14] if you've had a loss
[00:24:15] this year
[00:24:15] that middle ground
[00:24:17] is not to
[00:24:18] spend either
[00:24:19] of your time
[00:24:20] on the sides
[00:24:21] but what would be
[00:24:22] the possibility
[00:24:23] if I've lost
[00:24:23] a loved one this year
[00:24:24] that I dedicate
[00:24:26] a tree for the
[00:24:26] holiday season
[00:24:27] in honor of my loved one
[00:24:29] or I go do
[00:24:30] some service work
[00:24:32] in some area
[00:24:32] that they would have
[00:24:33] loved
[00:24:34] or that they
[00:24:35] love themselves
[00:24:36] as a way to
[00:24:37] connect with them
[00:24:38] and honor them
[00:24:38] this holiday season
[00:24:40] and serve people
[00:24:41] in some way.
[00:24:43] It doesn't mean
[00:24:44] that I can't
[00:24:45] acknowledge them
[00:24:46] or I can't be
[00:24:46] with my sadness
[00:24:47] but I can make choices
[00:24:49] to intend
[00:24:50] to keep healing
[00:24:51] with regards
[00:24:52] to my losses
[00:24:53] or my disappointments
[00:24:54] or my frustrations
[00:24:56] and still embrace
[00:24:57] holidays
[00:24:58] and have a sense
[00:24:59] of meaning for them.
[00:25:00] One of my favorite
[00:25:01] traditions
[00:25:02] that has been
[00:25:02] in my life
[00:25:03] since 1979
[00:25:05] candlelight.
[00:25:06] Candlelight.
[00:25:07] And even when
[00:25:08] I was away
[00:25:09] for years
[00:25:10] in other churches
[00:25:10] we always had
[00:25:12] candlelight.
[00:25:13] At my church
[00:25:13] in Arizona
[00:25:14] when I got there
[00:25:14] first order of business
[00:25:17] candlelight.
[00:25:18] Why?
[00:25:19] Not only because
[00:25:19] it's a beautiful
[00:25:20] and inspiring service
[00:25:21] but that moment
[00:25:23] when we have
[00:25:24] real candles
[00:25:25] in the room
[00:25:26] and we spread
[00:25:28] the light
[00:25:29] that meets
[00:25:31] my intention
[00:25:32] of reminding
[00:25:34] myself
[00:25:34] of what I'm
[00:25:35] here to do.
[00:25:36] I am here
[00:25:37] to be
[00:25:38] a living
[00:25:38] example
[00:25:39] of the
[00:25:39] Christ light
[00:25:40] and to share
[00:25:41] that example
[00:25:42] with any
[00:25:43] and all beings
[00:25:44] and the way
[00:25:45] that I do that
[00:25:46] is I just
[00:25:47] help to light
[00:25:48] the light
[00:25:49] along the way
[00:25:50] and the most
[00:25:51] touching moment
[00:25:51] for me
[00:25:52] that makes
[00:25:53] Christmas Christmas
[00:25:53] is being here
[00:25:55] to watch
[00:25:56] that light go
[00:25:56] and I know
[00:25:57] I can see
[00:25:58] some of you
[00:25:58] you don't just
[00:25:59] come for one
[00:26:00] candlelight Christmas
[00:26:01] some of you
[00:26:02] right?
[00:26:03] You're here
[00:26:03] for a number
[00:26:04] of them
[00:26:04] because I know
[00:26:06] that you
[00:26:07] like me
[00:26:08] love that moment
[00:26:09] it doesn't matter
[00:26:10] whether I'm
[00:26:10] sitting in the
[00:26:11] congregation
[00:26:11] or I get to be
[00:26:12] up here on the
[00:26:13] platform
[00:26:13] that moment
[00:26:15] is everything
[00:26:16] to me
[00:26:17] it's so
[00:26:19] meaningful
[00:26:20] and even if
[00:26:21] we do it
[00:26:22] six times
[00:26:23] which we do
[00:26:24] it always
[00:26:25] brings me
[00:26:25] to tears
[00:26:27] it's so
[00:26:27] intentional
[00:26:29] in one of
[00:26:29] the holiday
[00:26:30] movies I
[00:26:30] watched this
[00:26:31] year
[00:26:31] a woman
[00:26:32] the whole
[00:26:33] thing was
[00:26:33] about a
[00:26:33] woman who
[00:26:34] wrote
[00:26:35] five
[00:26:36] letters
[00:26:37] and sent
[00:26:38] them to
[00:26:39] people who
[00:26:40] had made
[00:26:40] the most
[00:26:40] difference
[00:26:41] in her
[00:26:42] life
[00:26:43] she wrote
[00:26:44] these letters
[00:26:44] and sent
[00:26:45] them to
[00:26:45] one of the
[00:26:46] people she
[00:26:47] sent them
[00:26:47] to was
[00:26:48] her
[00:26:48] former
[00:26:48] music
[00:26:49] teacher
[00:26:49] and she
[00:26:50] sent it
[00:26:50] to the
[00:26:50] music
[00:26:51] teacher's
[00:26:51] house
[00:26:52] and the
[00:26:52] music
[00:26:52] teacher
[00:26:52] was on
[00:26:53] a trip
[00:26:54] but her
[00:26:54] very
[00:26:55] handsome
[00:26:55] son
[00:26:56] was there
[00:26:56] to get
[00:26:57] the letter
[00:26:57] and he
[00:26:58] had to
[00:26:58] go and
[00:26:59] tell her
[00:26:59] of course
[00:27:00] that she
[00:27:00] was away
[00:27:01] and they
[00:27:02] fell madly
[00:27:02] in love
[00:27:03] that's a
[00:27:04] hallmark movie
[00:27:04] for you
[00:27:05] right
[00:27:08] however
[00:27:10] the
[00:27:11] tradition
[00:27:12] this is
[00:27:12] my new
[00:27:13] tradition
[00:27:14] this year
[00:27:14] I've got
[00:27:15] five letters
[00:27:16] I've got
[00:27:17] five people
[00:27:19] in mind
[00:27:20] and those
[00:27:21] letters
[00:27:21] are all
[00:27:22] going to
[00:27:22] be to
[00:27:23] people
[00:27:23] who
[00:27:24] I
[00:27:25] absolutely
[00:27:26] can feel
[00:27:27] and know
[00:27:28] have loved
[00:27:30] me
[00:27:30] even when
[00:27:31] I
[00:27:32] wasn't
[00:27:33] so sure
[00:27:33] I was
[00:27:34] lovable
[00:27:34] people
[00:27:35] who've
[00:27:36] believed
[00:27:36] in me
[00:27:37] even
[00:27:38] when
[00:27:38] I
[00:27:39] had
[00:27:39] a
[00:27:39] hard
[00:27:39] time
[00:27:40] believing
[00:27:41] in
[00:27:41] myself
[00:27:41] and
[00:27:43] I
[00:28:01] thinking
[00:28:02] about
[00:28:02] the
[00:28:02] ritual
[00:28:03] the
[00:28:03] letters
[00:28:03] before
[00:28:04] I've
[00:28:04] ever
[00:28:04] written
[00:28:05] the
[00:28:05] letters
[00:28:05] makes
[00:28:06] me
[00:28:06] feel
[00:28:07] like
[00:28:07] a
[00:28:07] grinch
[00:28:07] whose
[00:28:08] heart
[00:28:08] has
[00:28:08] grown
[00:28:09] five
[00:28:09] times
[00:28:11] it's
[00:28:12] a
[00:28:12] season
[00:28:12] of
[00:28:13] light
[00:28:13] it's
[00:28:13] an
[00:28:13] invitation
[00:28:14] into
[00:28:15] amazement
[00:28:16] as
[00:28:16] Jackie's
[00:28:18] quote
[00:28:18] earlier
[00:28:19] tells us
[00:28:20] there's
[00:28:21] an
[00:28:21] invitation
[00:28:21] here
[00:28:22] to
[00:28:22] expand
[00:28:23] your
[00:28:23] mind
[00:28:23] set
[00:28:24] your
[00:28:24] intentions
[00:28:25] choose
[00:28:26] aligned
[00:28:26] traditions
[00:28:27] and
[00:28:28] be
[00:28:28] amazed
[00:28:29] with
[00:28:30] what's
[00:28:30] available
[00:28:30] I
[00:28:31] close
[00:28:31] with
[00:28:32] a
[00:28:32] quote
[00:28:32] from
[00:28:32] Mary
[00:28:32] Oliver
[00:28:33] it's
[00:28:34] the
[00:28:34] last
[00:28:34] portion
[00:28:35] of
[00:28:35] her
[00:28:36] poem
[00:28:36] that
[00:28:37] she
[00:28:37] entitled
[00:28:37] when
[00:28:37] death
[00:28:38] comes
[00:28:38] and
[00:28:39] in
[00:28:39] it
[00:28:40] she
[00:28:40] says
[00:28:40] when
[00:28:41] it's
[00:28:41] all
[00:28:41] over
[00:28:41] I
[00:28:42] want
[00:28:43] to
[00:28:43] say
[00:28:43] all
[00:28:44] my
[00:28:44] life
[00:28:44] I
[00:28:45] was
[00:28:45] a
[00:28:45] bride
[00:28:46] married
[00:28:46] married
[00:28:47] married
[00:28:47] to
[00:28:47] amazement
[00:28:47] I
[00:28:48] was
[00:28:48] the
[00:28:49] bride
[00:28:49] groom
[00:28:49] taking
[00:28:50] the
[00:28:50] world
[00:28:50] into
[00:28:51] my
[00:28:51] arms
[00:28:51] when
[00:28:52] it's
[00:28:52] over
[00:28:53] I
[00:28:53] don't
[00:28:53] want
[00:28:53] to
[00:28:53] wonder
[00:28:54] if
[00:28:54] I
[00:28:55] have
[00:28:55] made
[00:28:55] of
[00:28:55] my
[00:28:56] life
[00:28:56] something
[00:28:56] particular
[00:28:57] and
[00:28:57] real
[00:28:58] I
[00:28:58] don't
[00:28:59] want
[00:28:59] to
[00:28:59] find
[00:28:59] myself
[00:28:59] sighing
[00:29:00] and
[00:29:00] frightened
[00:29:01] or
[00:29:02] full
[00:29:02] of
[00:29:02] argument
[00:29:03] I
[00:29:17] want
[00:29:17] to
[00:29:17] be
[00:29:18] the
[00:29:18] bride
[00:29:18] married
[00:29:19] to
[00:29:19] amazement
[00:29:20] this
[00:29:21] Thanksgiving
[00:29:21] this
[00:29:22] Christmas
[00:29:22] I
[00:29:23] invite
[00:29:24] you
[00:29:24] to
[00:29:24] join
[00:29:24] me
[00:29:24] it's
[00:29:25] the
[00:29:25] season
[00:29:26] of
[00:29:26] light
[00:29:26] let
[00:29:27] us
[00:29:28] pray
[00:29:28] our
[00:29:28] practitioner
[00:29:29] prayer
[00:29:29] partners
[00:29:29] are going
[00:29:29] to
[00:29:30] stand
[00:29:30] with
[00:29:30] me
[00:29:30] now
[00:29:31] and
[00:29:31] as
[00:29:31] they
[00:29:32] do
[00:29:32] so
[00:29:32] I
[00:29:32] remind
[00:29:32] us
[00:29:33] all
[00:29:33] that
[00:29:33] they're
[00:29:33] available
[00:29:34] after
[00:29:35] service
[00:29:35] they'll
[00:29:35] be
[00:29:36] down
[00:29:36] here
[00:29:36] in
[00:29:36] front
[00:29:36] you
[00:29:37] can
[00:29:37] come
[00:29:37] forward
[00:29:38] and
[00:29:38] they'll
[00:29:38] be
[00:29:39] happy
[00:29:39] to
[00:29:40] pray
[00:29:40] with
[00:29:40] you
[00:29:40] all
[00:29:41] you
[00:29:41] need
[00:29:41] to
[00:29:41] is
[00:29:41] just
[00:29:42] tell
[00:29:42] them
[00:29:42] here's
[00:29:43] my
[00:29:43] intention
[00:29:44] for
[00:29:44] this
[00:29:44] season
[00:29:45] or
[00:29:45] here's
[00:29:45] my
[00:29:46] intention
[00:29:46] for
[00:29:46] this
[00:29:47] prayer
[00:29:47] and
[00:29:47] they
[00:29:47] can
[00:29:47] do
[00:29:48] a
[00:29:48] brief
[00:29:48] powerful
[00:29:49] prayer
[00:29:50] a bunch
[00:29:50] of
[00:29:50] practitioners
[00:29:51] and I
[00:29:51] were
[00:29:51] talking
[00:29:52] yesterday
[00:29:52] about
[00:29:52] the
[00:29:53] essence
[00:29:53] of
[00:29:54] this
[00:29:54] activity
[00:29:54] is
[00:29:55] when
[00:29:55] you
[00:29:55] can't
[00:29:56] have
[00:29:56] faith
[00:29:56] you
[00:29:57] go
[00:29:57] to
[00:29:57] a
[00:29:57] practitioner
[00:29:58] and
[00:29:59] you
[00:29:59] have
[00:30:00] faith
[00:30:00] in
[00:30:00] their
[00:30:00] faith
[00:30:01] you
[00:30:02] let
[00:30:02] them
[00:30:02] stand
[00:30:03] as
[00:30:03] a
[00:30:04] faithful
[00:30:04] one
[00:30:04] on
[00:30:04] your
[00:30:05] behalf
[00:30:05] and
[00:30:06] so
[00:30:06] right
[00:30:07] here
[00:30:07] and
[00:30:07] right
[00:30:07] now
[00:30:07] that's
[00:30:08] what
[00:30:08] I'm
[00:30:08] doing
[00:30:09] have
[00:30:09] faith
[00:30:10] in
[00:30:10] my
[00:30:10] faith
[00:30:10] and
[00:30:11] here's
[00:30:11] my
[00:30:11] faith
[00:30:12] here's
[00:30:12] what
[00:30:12] I
[00:30:13] have
[00:30:13] faith
[00:30:13] in
[00:30:13] beloveds
[00:30:14] I
[00:30:14] have
[00:30:14] faith
[00:30:15] that
[00:30:15] there
[00:30:15] is
[00:30:15] one
[00:30:15] power
[00:30:16] one
[00:30:16] presence
[00:30:17] one
[00:30:18] life
[00:30:18] one
[00:30:19] source
[00:30:19] I
[00:30:20] have
[00:30:20] faith
[00:30:21] that
[00:30:21] that
[00:30:21] source
[00:30:22] is
[00:30:22] operating
[00:30:23] in
[00:30:23] and
[00:30:23] expressing
[00:30:24] through
[00:30:25] all
[00:30:25] beings
[00:30:26] everywhere
[00:30:27] I
[00:30:28] have
[00:30:28] faith
[00:30:29] that
[00:30:29] this
[00:30:29] presence
[00:30:30] is
[00:30:31] a
[00:30:31] guiding
[00:30:31] force
[00:30:32] of
[00:30:32] love
[00:30:32] and
[00:30:33] light
[00:30:33] and
[00:30:34] wholeness
[00:30:34] and
[00:30:35] peace
[00:30:35] to
[00:30:36] all
[00:30:36] hearts
[00:30:37] to
[00:30:37] all
[00:30:37] beings
[00:30:38] to
[00:30:38] all
[00:30:38] relationships
[00:30:39] to
[00:30:39] all
[00:30:39] homes
[00:30:40] to
[00:30:41] all
[00:30:42] through
[00:30:42] all
[00:30:43] as
[00:30:44] all
[00:30:45] I
[00:30:46] have
[00:30:46] faith
[00:30:46] that
[00:30:47] right
[00:30:47] here
[00:30:47] and
[00:30:47] right
[00:30:47] now
[00:30:48] as
[00:30:48] I
[00:30:49] speak
[00:30:49] this
[00:30:49] prayer
[00:30:49] that
[00:30:50] that
[00:30:50] presence
[00:30:50] is
[00:30:51] living
[00:30:51] through
[00:30:52] me
[00:30:52] and
[00:30:53] is
[00:30:53] the
[00:30:53] word
[00:30:53] that I
[00:30:54] speak
[00:30:54] and the
[00:30:54] consciousness
[00:30:55] that
[00:30:55] directs
[00:30:56] this
[00:30:56] word
[00:30:56] forth
[00:30:57] I
[00:30:57] have
[00:30:58] faith
[00:30:58] that
[00:30:58] this
[00:30:59] life
[00:30:59] is
[00:31:00] animating
[00:31:00] these
[00:31:01] words
[00:31:01] such
[00:31:02] that
[00:31:02] this
[00:31:02] prayer
[00:31:02] is
[00:31:03] now
[00:31:04] creatively
[00:31:05] processing
[00:31:06] itself
[00:31:06] in the
[00:31:07] world
[00:31:07] of
[00:31:07] form
[00:31:08] through
[00:31:08] all
[00:31:08] of
[00:31:09] our
[00:31:09] lives
[00:31:09] and
[00:31:09] therefore
[00:31:10] I
[00:31:10] can
[00:31:11] use
[00:31:11] this
[00:31:11] word
[00:31:12] to
[00:31:12] proclaim
[00:31:13] the
[00:31:13] truth
[00:31:13] and
[00:31:14] the
[00:31:14] truth
[00:31:15] is
[00:31:15] made
[00:31:15] manifest
[00:31:16] and
[00:31:17] I
[00:31:17] accept
[00:31:17] and
[00:31:17] affirm
[00:31:18] that
[00:31:18] we
[00:31:25] with
[00:31:26] light
[00:31:26] and
[00:31:27] love
[00:31:27] with
[00:31:27] new
[00:31:28] traditions
[00:31:29] and
[00:31:29] ideas
[00:31:30] that
[00:31:30] help
[00:31:31] us
[00:31:31] to
[00:31:31] move
[00:31:32] through
[00:31:32] and
[00:31:33] dance
[00:31:33] with
[00:31:34] and
[00:31:34] process
[00:31:34] and
[00:31:35] be
[00:31:35] with
[00:31:36] and
[00:31:36] celebrate
[00:31:37] and
[00:31:38] cry
[00:31:39] tears
[00:31:40] of joy
[00:31:40] and cry
[00:31:41] the tears
[00:31:42] of sadness
[00:31:43] and be
[00:31:44] awakened
[00:31:45] in our
[00:31:45] heart
[00:31:46] and in
[00:31:46] our
[00:31:46] light
[00:31:47] and in
[00:31:47] our
[00:31:47] life
[00:31:48] such that
[00:31:49] this
[00:31:49] holiday
[00:31:50] season
[00:31:50] is a
[00:31:51] beautiful
[00:31:52] beautiful
[00:31:52] rite of
[00:31:53] passage
[00:31:53] for each
[00:31:54] of us
[00:31:54] it's a
[00:31:55] passage
[00:31:56] into
[00:31:56] greater
[00:31:56] love
[00:31:57] it's a
[00:31:57] passage
[00:31:58] into
[00:31:58] greater
[00:31:58] light
[00:31:59] greater
[00:32:00] peace
[00:32:00] and
[00:32:01] greater
[00:32:01] wholeness
[00:32:01] I'm
[00:32:03] so
[00:32:03] grateful
[00:32:03] to
[00:32:04] accept
[00:32:05] this
[00:32:05] and
[00:32:05] affirm
[00:32:06] this
[00:32:06] so
[00:32:07] grateful
[00:32:07] that
[00:32:08] this
[00:32:08] is
[00:32:08] so
[00:32:08] in
[00:32:09] our
[00:32:09] lives
[00:32:09] right
[00:32:09] now
[00:32:10] and
[00:32:11] so
[00:32:11] confident
[00:32:12] that
[00:32:12] it
[00:32:12] is
[00:32:12] true
[00:32:13] that
[00:32:13] I
[00:32:20] go
[00:32:20] and
[00:32:21] so
[00:32:22] it
[00:32:22] is
[00:32:22] amen
[00:32:25] thanks
[00:32:26] for
[00:32:26] listening
[00:32:27] to
[00:32:27] the
[00:32:27] mile
[00:32:27] high
[00:32:28] church
[00:32:28] podcast
[00:32:28] this
[00:32:29] podcast
[00:32:30] is
[00:32:30] made
[00:32:30] possible
[00:32:30] by
[00:32:31] the
[00:32:31] generous
[00:32:31] contributions
[00:32:32] from
[00:32:32] listeners
[00:32:33] like
[00:32:33] you
[00:32:33] to
[00:32:34] make
[00:32:34] a
[00:32:34] donation
[00:32:34] please
[00:32:35] visit