Whatever the Weather

 This week's quote is by John Ruskin, the Victorian writer and philosopher, who wrote, "Sunshine is delicious, rain is refreshing, wind is rousing, snow is exhilarating. Where is the bad weather?"

And my first reaction was, "Right, John. That's absolutely fine, so long as you have a cosy home, appropriately warm or cool clothing and footwear, and can choose whether or not to be out in it." Because so many people in the world today - in the UK today - cannot choose. They are either homeless, or cannot afford to heat their homes adequately. For them, bad weather - rain, bitter wind, ice and snow - are disastrous, not "refreshing" or "rousing" or "exhilarating". Which is why I have a monthly standing order to Crisis, the homeless charity.

But I guess if we took his words metaphorically, as though they were about the weather of our lives, I could agree with him. Sunshine can warm our hearts, rain can refresh us, wake us up, wind can blow fresh air into our minds and yes, the beauty of snow can be exhilarating.

But not all the time. Because none of us enjoys wall-to-wall delicious sunshine. All of us have seasons of depressing rain, bitter wind and freezing snow. Times when we cannot see the bright side of life. Times when we wonder whether the sun will ever shine again, for us. It is at those times that the warm sunny friendship of stalwart loved ones, who stand by us in all seasons, not just when we're feeling happy and upbeat, is most valuable. Indispensable, in fact. As is belonging to a loving community, such as a Unitarian congregation.

So his words remind me to be thankful for those loved ones, whether family members or dear friends, who stand by me in all the seasons of my life, who help me to weather the weather, if you see what I mean. 

You know who you are. And I am most grateful.

Trusting in God

 This week's quotation comes from the Book of Psalms in The Hebrew Bible. It reads, "Commit your way to the Lord; trust in him, and he will act." 

I envy the writer of those words his simple trust. (I don't think I'm making an unwarranted assumption that it was a man). Because simple trust in God is not easy, in these complicated days. At a time when our news headlines are full of stories of war, violence, sadness and grief, it is difficult to trust that God knows what He/She/It is doing.

I recently listened to the audio book of The Shack by William P. Young. And its central character, Mack, who is grieving the adbduction and murder of his youngest daughter, brings up this very issue. And Papa (God the Father) tells him, "There are millions of reasons to allow pain and hurt and suffering rather than to eradicate them, but most of those reasons can only be understood within each person's story. I am not evil. You are the ones who embrace fear and pain and power and rights so readily in your relationships. But your choices are also not stronger than my purposes, and I will use every choice you make for the ultimate good and the most loving outcome."

When Mack protests that she shouldn't allow bad things to happen, she replies, "You see pain and death as ultimate evils and God as the ultimate betrayer, or perhaps, at best, as fundamentally untrustworthy. You dictate the terms and judge my actions and find me guilty.... You don't think that I am good. If you knew I was good and that everything - the means, the ends, and all the processes of individual lives - is all covered by my goodness, then while you might not always understand what I am doing, you would trust me. But you don't."

Mack makes one final comment, "I just can't imagine any final outcome that would justify all this." And Papa replied, "We're not justifying it. We are redeeming it." Later on in the book, Sophia (who is the personifcation of Papa's wisdom) tells him, ""Papa has never needed evil to accomplish his good purposes. It is you humans who have embraced evil and Papa has responded with goodness. ... Give up being his judge and know Papa for who he is. Then you will be able to embrace his love in the midst of your pain, instead of pushing him away with your self-centered perception of how you think the universe should be."

Later on, Papa explains, "Just because I work incredible good out of unspeakable tragedies doesn't mean I orchestrate the tragedies." 

Which has given me a whole other understanding of God. I have realised that the only way forward is to let go of judgement and trust. I like how Mack learns to trust but, like him, I find it so very hard. That last quotation really hit home. It helped me to understand that although God, because he has given us freedom, will not intervene in the affairs of this world, he will "work incredible good" out of it. Hard to hold on to, hard to believe, but what if it is true? Can I let go enough of judgement to trust in God's goodness? I'll get back to you on this.

Reaping What We Have Sown

 This week's quotation, by the great Medieval German poet, Gottfried von Strassburg, reads, "We must reap what we have previously sown and accept what the seed brings us."

We are all deeply interconnected with one another and with the rest of creation, so this is a good reminder that all of our actions and words have consequences. But we also have the God-given gift of free will, so we can try to ensure that our actions and words (the seeds we sow) lead to good consequences, for ourselves and for others.

And to appreciate that each deed or word we do or utter can have consequences that reach much further than we think they will. Our good deed or kind word may cause other people to respond with their own good deed or kind word to another, and so on out into the world. And if we do or say something bad, the same thing applies.

What I'm saying is, we are agents in our own lives and must be responsible for the consequences of our actions and words. And aware of the impact they might have on others. Which is what von Strassburg means by his words about "accept[ing] what the seed brings us." 

The World in Festive Splendour

 The author of this week's quote adds another dimension to it, being Elie Wiesel. Who was, according to Wikipedia, "a Romanian-born American writer, professor, political activist, Nobel laureate and Holocaust survivor."

He wrote, "The world appears in festive splendour to those who look at it without desire."

At this time of year, when we decorate our houses (both inside and outside) and our shops and our streets, the world may indeed seem to have "festive splendour." But I'm not sure that is what Wiesel was talking about. The meaning of his words is much deeper. He seems to be saying that "beauty is in the eye of the beholder" and that if we can detach ourselves from our desires, anything can look beautiful. Whereas, if we cannot detach ourselves from our desires to have other than what we already do, then the most beautiful scene or object may seem tawdry, cheap, not enough. 

So perhaps our challenge this Christmas is to truly appreciate what we have - to look at it with new eyes, so that we can appreciate its "festive splendour", rather than casting envious glances towards the lives of others. If we watch too many TV adverts, with their visions of happy families getting together, silly paper hats on their heads and corny Christmas jumpers stretched across full stomachs or dresses of velvet and glitter, and of tables groaning with delicious food, and our own lives are less than ideal, it can be easy to be seduced into believing that everyone else is better off than we are.

Nevertheless, it is true that these visions are far from the reality for many people As I have written before, Christmas has a darker, largely unacknowledged side. There are many lonely people who simply don't have anyone to share Christmas with, who wouldn't feel like celebrating even if they did. For them, the contrast between their lives and the Christmas projected through the media can exacerbate their feelings of isolation, panic, stress and depression. Christmas becomes a season to be got through somehow, rather than a time of joy and sharing.

So perhaps we should also have these people in mind, and do our best to make their Christmasses a little better, a little happier, in whatever way we can. Perhaps by making a donation to a food bank, or a charity for the homeless, or taking the time to visit a neighbour whom we know is alone. It doesn't take much to make a positive difference.

Not only for them, but also for us. Because if we can concentrate on the needs and desires of others, it will have a beneficial effect on our own perceptions of this complicated season. 

May your Christmas be full of festive splendour, and may you share your joy with others.

 

Disagreeing with Socrates

 This week's quotation is by the Greek philosopher, Socrates. He wrote, "Leisure is the finest possession of all."

Admittedly, I don't know the context in which this was written, but as it stands, I couldn't disagree more. There are far more important things than leisure, in my opinion. Such as health, peace, love and friendship - the list goes on.

And I don't believe it is possible to "possess" leisure anyway... My Concise Oxford Dictionary defines leisure as, "(Opportunity to do, for, afforded by) free time, time at one's own disposal." And, we cannot "possess" time either - it passes by at a rate of sixty seconds a minute, sixty minutes an hour, twenty fours hours a day, no matter what we are doing. 

I guess that what he might have been talking about, is that "time at one's own disposal" is a fine possession. Leisure time allows us to engage in activites which feed our hearts and minds, which we would otherwise not have time for. And I certainly value my own leisure time, which is generally spent in a variety of ways: walking in nature, writing, reading, and crocheting. I can attempt to ring fence such time, so that my life is made richer. But I cannot possess it.

These days, it is only too easy to waste our precious leisure time, by scrolling idly on our phones, engaging with social media, or watching trashy television programmes. And I am as guilty of the latter as the next person. My saving grace is that I am usually crocheting at the same time. I do believe that leisure time, well spent, can enrich our lives.

What do you do, to make your leisure time rich and meaningful?