“A star to discover”

LOGARTA

Every Christmas, I bring in this quote from “Simple Abundance” of Sarah Ban Breathnach:

“If as Herod, we fill our lives with things, and again with things; if we consider ourselves as unimportant that we must fill every moment of our lives with action, when will we have the time to make the long journey across the desert as did the Magi?

Or sit and watch the stars as did the shepherds? Or brood over the coming of the child as did Mary? For each one of us, there is a desert to travel, a star to discover.

And a being within ourselves to bring to life.”

The beautiful book clarifies that if we are constantly grateful, if have pauses to give ourselves the chance to appreciate not only the great, dramatic things but also the small and plain each day we will then experience a rich sense of abundance.

Dolor Tedor, my sister-in-law’s very faithful assistant thought that this was a very appropriate book to gift my rather busy sister-in-law Lilu.

She passed it on to me because she had already kept on practicing giving thanks for big things and small. Along with it, she provided me with the accompanying gratitude journal. “Simple Abundance” had also been shared with Mary Rose. But its spirit and many lessons are often brought in our Bible-sharing sessions whenever they are relevant.

Because of its ideas, my walk from a moment of sitting with Jesus in church, returning home becomes walking meditation.

So I am the first to notice that the acacia tree has begun to blossom. I stop under the giant balete tree; I ask permission from the almighty and the tree to touch it and gather strength and healing. There is also time to listen intensely to the variety of sounds from the birds and the insects.

It had been such a long time since I watched the first Star Wars with the little girl, Mary Rose. Believe it or not, but she really got so captivated by the film that she stood during its entire duration!

My experience of “The Last Jedi” on opening night was full of warmth and excitement. Because it was a fund-raising activity, the theatre was full of friends and like-minded folk. Many millennials, who fully appreciated the film’s special effects and stellar action cheered as the film progressed.

I loved the film for many reasons. I liked it that a film appreciated by young people offered resistance to materialism and decadence. This was one of the targets of the rebellion. (Am I reading too much into the film?)

It was very valuable that passing on lessons, values, and other treasures was given focus. The present generation needs to reflect that learning from previous generations could make a very big difference, especially in terms of survival.

Of course, the presence of the females and the very active roles that they played was the big shift of the film. And most of them made sacrifices for the sake of love.

Many say that women will do anything because of love, while men will do anything for power. In the film, females sacrificed their lives for their loved ones as well as their cherished communities. But, Jesus, our STAR, although male, did everything for love, and very willingly gave up power.

So let us return to Sarah Ban Breathnach: “Perhaps the Christmas spirit, is like the nature of the Beloved, is meant to be a Holy Mystery. Perhaps the Christmas spirit is our souls’ knowledge that things, no matter how beautiful, are only things; that we were created, not always to do, but sometimes simply to be.

Perhaps the Christmas spirit is a loving reminder that we must make time for the long, slow journey across the desert; we must take time to discover our star; we must honor the time necessary to brood over the coming of the authentic women we were created by Love to become.”