Dear Friends ~ Darkness gets a bad rap. In our collective imagination, nighttime brings shadows and obscures our vision. Against the vast dark, we feel our smallness, and possibly even our aloneness. So we light candles and gather around flames to keep the night at bay.
But just like the rest of us, Darkness has a complex personality. If you'll allow a metaphor inspired by my own childhood: sometimes Darkness is a Ford Country Squire station wagon conveying a family westward on a December highway well past bedtime. Oncoming headlights—like the infinite eyes of a never-ending caterpillar—shoot piercing gazes through the blackness. Pinprick stars gleam even brighter for the crisp winter night. But inside the wood-paneled vessel, all is warmth and breath: six voices belting out Christmas carols, six noses thawing while the heater kicks in, six spines tingling as cold's discomfort meets the holiday's electric anticipation.
In other words, sometimes Darkness holds us and moves us. And always, it lets us see whatever shines with greater clarity.
This December, these are the gifts of the dark I'd love to wrap up and pass to each of you. Many good wishes for the holiday season and the coming new year! ~ Joy
Silence is really vital for the human heart. You see, the human heart can't live with constant sound or noise. It needs silence in order to heal itself. The only two things that are ultimately required for spiritual homecoming are stillness and silence. If, into your day, you can build little windows of silence and little windows of stillness, you will never lose touch with your deepest voice. You will never lose touch with your most secret belonging. Even though you walk and talk and act in the world, you will never leave the inner, tender home of your own soul.