Happy (Church) New Year’s Eve!
Many of us feel more than ready to say bye-bye and good riddance to 2020! “2020” has been used as a noun, verb, adjective and other parts of speech to express our impatience, frustration, anger, grief, and despair. We are more than ready to welcome a new year with renewed hope for positive change. One of the many reasons it’s super cool to be Episcopalian Christians is that we get to do this right now! In the church’s liturgical calendar, Sunday is the beginning of the new church year.
So, Happy (Church) New Year’s Eve!
On this liturgical New Year’s Eve, let’s practice breathing. It might sound silly to practice breathing, because breathing is something we do automatically, until we don’t. What happens when we pay attention to our breath? Try it, right now. Are you trying it? What do you notice?
We might notice we are breathing quickly or slowly. We might notice our breathing feels easy or labored. We might notice it’s easier to inhale and exhale through our mouths, or through our nostrils. We might notice that we have an urge to control our breathing the moment we pay attention to it. We might notice we feel annoyed taking any time to notice something so insignificant, and then we might feel a bit shocked to realize we consider our breathing insignificant!
If we pay attention to our breathing for even a few minutes, without trying to control it, we will likely feel calmer. We will feel calmer because paying attention to our breathing means we aren’t paying attention to the million other things clamoring for our attention and stressing us out and threatening to suck the life out of us! Instead, we are paying attention to what is essential in this moment.
The practice of paying attention to what is essential in the present moment is the practice of Advent. If we are not intentional about this, we will never become attention-al. In Sunday’s gospel lesson, Jesus says, “Keep awake.” He doesn’t mean we should become any more sleep deprived than we already are. He just means: pay attention to what is essential, right now.
How do we know what is essential right now? In Sunday’s gospel lesson, Jesus says, “From the fig tree learn its lesson: as soon as its branch becomes tender and puts forth its leaves, you know that summer is near.” Learn to read the signs of nature, including your own nature. You know what is essential by what stirs your heart. By what really stirs your heart, not just what makes you go, “Ohhhhh, I sooooo want that!” Beauty stirs your heart to awe. Seeing the amazing colors of a sunset splashed across the sky stirs your heart to awe. Innocence stirs your heart to joy. Seeing a baby’s sweet smile as she gazes at you or a puppy’s wiggly butt as he approaches stirs your heart to joy. Vulnerability stirs your heart to compassion. Kindness stirs your heart to generosity.
As we move through Advent, you can know what is essential in your life, as essential as your breath, by paying attention to what stirs your heart. Breathe in more of that. Breathe out your suffering and the suffering of the world. Inhale awe, exhale despair. Inhale innocent joy and curiosity, exhale cynicism and criticism. Inhale generosity, exhale hoarding. Inhale compassion, exhale self-defense. Inhale trust, exhale clinging. Inhale acceptance, exhale control.
Inhale God’s unconditional love for you, exhale the pain of the passing year. Inhale. Exhale. Stay awake. Pay attention to what is essential. Inhale. Exhale.
Rev. Sonya Reichel
