Threads of A Life: Tuesday's Reflection

Is it just the Christmas season that makes me more more present to the various threads of my life? Is it my age that encourages me to connect one part of my life with another?

In recent days my feet have been in both the past and the present. And thus, my heart, as well.

Saturday we drove to Northfield, MN, to buy Christmas presents at a favorite bookstore, Contents. St Olaf College, where Bruce and I both went to school, is located there, and we always enjoy a trip down memory lane when we head in that direction. In fact, we had been there the week before for the annual Christmas Festival, which never fails to open us to the nostalgia of our undergraduate years and at the same time leads us into the Advent season. 












After making our book purchases, we headed up to the campus, which was much quieter than the week before. Students were studying for finals and few old alums were present. Our goal was to see the memorial to James Reeb, a graduate in 1950 who had gone on to become a Unitarian minister. His brutal murder, when he went to Selma, Alabama, in March, 1965 to become involved in the Civil Rights Movement, was the impetus for the passage of the Voting Rights Act. Martin Luther King, Jr, gave the eulogy at Reeb's funeral service. 

We had seen pictures of Reeb in a couple of the museums we visited on the Civil Rights Tour in November and going to this memorial felt like a piece of the pilgrimage.

The past and the present blended together, for the memorial is in the library on campus and as an English major that is where most of my classes were held. I studied often, sometimes with Bruce, in the reference room, which is now designated one of the QUIET study areas. 

Once home, Advent music in the background, I made the first batch of cherry walnut bread, a Christmas tradition for many years. I thought about many I have delivered bread to in the past and also created a mental list of who might receive loaves this year. And how many batches that will require. I mixed past and present as I creamed the butter and chopped the cherries.




Then Sunday I presented an adult forum at church, "The Body's Address: Spiritual and Practice and the Body," and as part of the session I taught some introductory T'ai Chi moves. During our Ohio years, I was part of a weekly T'ai Chi group and also practiced it daily on my own and later taught classes myself. I felt the presence of those years Sunday morning as I lifted my arms, opening to receive from heaven and as I returned to mountain space, my feet shoulder width apart and knees slightly bent. Body memory, as well as heart and mind. 

Later we returned to church for the Service of Lessons and Carols, and I rested in the beauty of the music and the words, giving thanks for the ways I have been enriched along the way and for the gifts of these precious present days. 

                       Blessing the Way

                       With every step
                       you take,
                       this blessing rises up
                       to meet you.

                       It has been waiting
                       long ages for you.

                       Look close 
                       and you can see
                       the layers of it,

                       how it has been fashioned
                       by those who walked
                       this road before you....

                       Look closer
                       and you will see
                       this blessing 
                       is not finished,

                       that you are how
                       this blessing means
                       to be a voice
                       within the wilderness

                       and a welcome
                       for the way. 
                                      from Circle of Grace,
                                      A Book of Blessings for the Seasons
                                      Jan Richardson

An Invitation
In what ways are you meeting past and present in your life? I would love to know.