WATCH NIGHT

Watch Night is a Christian church service held on Christmas Eve usually starting late and ending as the New Year starts at midnight. John Wesley started it in 1740. He was a kind of "start-up" kind of guy. For one, he was the founder of the Methodist church and did all kinds of innovative things creating groups for social action and writing hymns and arguing against tough Calvinism. He was a mover and a shaker of the 18th century and much loved in England. New Year's Eve was just as crazy and drunken then as now and he wanted a safe, reflective place for church members to come and reflect and recommit instead of (or before) revelry!  It is formalized in The Methodist Book of Worship.

It took on a more heightened meaning in the United States for African-Americans.
Slaves gathered in church on New Year's Eve, in 1862, for the moment when the bells rang midnight that confirmed the enactment of the Emancipation Proclamation by President Abraham Lincoln, on January 1,1863.

So there's the history lesson.
I've been to several Watch Night services. They tend to be informal with people speaking from their hearts and sharing gratitude. There is something nice about gathering in a group to do this. It doesn't feel normal churchy but rather a gently thoughtful way to start a New Year. Many of us do this in our conversation with family and friends. Maybe we should focus less on weight loss and more on wisdom gain

IN THE BLEAK MIDWINTER

This hymn In the Bleak Midwinter is my deepest prayer at Christmas time.
Someday, I will be (I will, I will) technologically proficient enough to send it to you being sung. It is the combination of the lyrics and music that brings me to a bowed head.


In The Bleak Mid-Winter  
Christina Rossetti

 In the bleak mid-winter 
  Frosty wind made moan,
Earth stood hard as iron, 
  Water like a stone;
Snow had fallen, snow on snow, 
  Snow on snow,
In the bleak mid-winter
  Long ago.

What can I give Him,
  Poor as I am?
If I were a shepherd
  I would bring a lamb,
If I were a wise man
  I would do my part,
Yet what I can I give Him,
  Give my heart.

ANOTHER KIND OF CHRISTMAS MEMORY

I just wrote on my Truth Burps blog http:\\truthburps.blogspot.com
It was kind of a Holly Jolly piece.
I didn't write about the most impactful Christmas Eve of my life.
I don't think about it consciously very often but its impact is now in my Christmas DNA. It is a sorrow and a realization of how precious our life is. And it is why I never had a drop of alcohol until I was forty. 

In my book I PRAY ANYWAY:Devotions for the Ambivalent I intersperse personal stories with my reflections. Here is the one about that particular Christmas Eve:

In Sixth grade,
I gave up God—
On Christmas no less
Went to Christmas Eve service with my mom and dad,
College brother and his finance
My best friend, Jan, and I were in the choir
We went to her house after service for Polish food
and festivities
Couldn't wait to tell her I had been kissed for the
first time
My boy crush and later love had come by mo house
with Mistletoe that day
And used it---yuck and you
I remember hot cheeks from one little peck
I never told Jan about the kiss
A phone call ruined Christmas and God for me
My brother's fiance's family had been killed 
in a car accident
Hit by a drunken driver
Her grandparents, her parents, her seven year old
brother and a new baby girl
Her nine year old sister lived
So many ramifications from that night
I did not have an alcoholic drink until I was
forty-four years old
I refused church, Sunday school, prayer, Bible
If God was not good, phooey on him
Done
I gave up God

BE STILL

"Be still and know that I am God." 

Be still and know that there is Godness.

Be still and listen for your truth

Be still and see the beauty in your life

Be still and let slowness do its work

Be still and let your heart relax

Be still and be courageous

Be still and let hope live

Be still and hurt

Be still and heal

Be still

Be still

Be still

TWO DEEP SOURCES OF HOPE

I have two deep sources of hope, both I bumped into by 'accident'. One is a TV series called Global Spirit. Here's the formal description:
—Global Spirit mixes evocative film segments and deep discussion to take viewers on a mind and soul expanding journey through ancient wisdom traditions, modern science, diverse belief systems, metaphysics and world religions—

Now, I have watched some weird stuff on TV including Ancient Alien Theorists. (Blame it on my esoteric husband) Global Spirit is qualitatively different. It is intelligent, thoughtful conversation beautifully and gently facilitated. Each episode has a theme or kindred guests, usually three. There is nice laughter, lots of joy, well earned wisdom from some of the 
larger bumps and bruises of a life.

Now I have watched some weird stuff on TV including Ancient Alien Theorists. (Blame it on my esoteric husband)  This is different. It is intelligent, thoughtful conversation beautifully and gently facilitated.  Each episode usually has a theme or kindred guests, usually three. Nice laughter, experienced life trudgers with great stories and well earned wisdom and lots of joy.

HOPE SOURCE # 1  
Global Spirit | Link TV https://www.linktv.org/shows/global-spirit Presented by author/actor/comedian John Cleese, "Global Spirit" is a unique inquiry into humankind's belief systems, wisdom traditions and science

My second hope booster is Charter for Compassion

How do I describe it? Not sure. I'm new to it.

Karen Armstrong described it on Global Spirit and I got interested.

Compassion is IT for me. Period. It is at t the heart of pragmatic skills needed for this world to survive AND at the heart of any religion worth its rituals or any spiritual practise worth its incense.
Here is a quote from the charter which you can sign. I have.

—It is necessary in both public and private life to refrain consistently and empathically from inflicting pain. To act or speak violently out of spite, chauvinism, or self-interest, to impoverish, exploit or deny basic rights to anybody, and to incite hatred by denigrating others—even our enemies—is a denial of our common humanity. We acknowledge that we have failed to live compassionately and that some have even increased the sum of human misery in the name of religion.

We therefore call upon all men and women to restore compassion to the centre of morality and religion ~ to return to the ancient principle that any interpretation of scripture that breeds violence, hatred or disdain is illegitimate ~ to ensure that youth are given accurate and respectful information about other traditions, religions and cultures ~ to encourage a positive appreciation of cultural and religious diversity ~ to cultivate an informed empathy with the suffering of all human beings—even those regarded as enemies.

We urgently need to make compassion a clear, luminous and dynamic force in our polarized world. Rooted in a principled determination to transcend selfishness, compassion can break down political, dogmatic, ideological and religious boundaries. Born of our deep interdependence, compassion is essential to human relationships and to a fulfilled humanity. It is the path to enlightenment, and indispensable to the creation of a just economy and a peaceful global community—

HOPE SOURCE # 2  charterforcompassion.org

We can't afford to get low on needed vitamins
We can't afford to let our hope get depleted.
Have a dose of hope as needed.

I