Thanksmas

Christmas time!! Oh how I love it!! The cold air just smells like Christmas to me. When Fall has given up and everything is gray and muddy I love to see how the snow comes in and just smooth’s everything out. That is what I feel during this time of year, I feel like I am being smoothed, refined. I have heard all the “Bah Humbug” arguments against this time of year “it is too commercial nowadays” and “Shouldn’t we focus on being good ALL year round?!”  and let me tell you, I ignore them all! It is not that I don’t see the worldliness creeping in to tell us that to have a truly Merry Christmas we need to “BUY ALL THE THINGS!!!” but I see past that to something that I think rings true about this time of year. People tend to be kinder during this time of year, more generous, slower to anger and more willing to focus on family and friends. I don’t think it is a bad thing that there is a time of year when we try harder. After all do we not feel like better, kinder versions of ourselves when we go to the temple? When we are with family? When we attend baby blessings, baptisms, conference? Allowing ourselves to slow down, refocus and enjoy the change in routine is refreshing. Lest you think that I have forgotten about Thanksgiving I have not. I consider Christmas and Thanksgiving as working together (Thanksmas!) to get us to refocus on what is important.  My challenge to each of you (all 5, 10, 15… I am not sure of our circulationJ) is to not give into the stress of this time of year but allow it to smooth you, no matter how hard this past year was look at this time as the respite from the routine, an escape from whatever stress has taken away the day to day joy of living. Okay, I am off my soapbox but I am going to slip it in (hopefully I am the first to do so), have a very Merry Christmas and a happy New Year!!

-Kristin

The first and great commandment

I've been thinking about how so often when people criticize religion they say something like, "you have so many 'thou shalt nots'". And when you start listing them that's true - there are all kinds of things we have been told to avoid. But religious or not, if you start to list all of the things that are bad ideas you will come up with a super long list! I think we get caught up in all of the "thou shalt nots" too much though, because Christ told us that there really are only 2 commandments - and neither of them is a "thou shalt not"!

Matthew 22:37-40 reads, "Jesus said unto him, Thou shalt love the Lord thy God with all thy heart, and with all thy soul, and with all thy mind. This is the first and great commandment.  And the second is like unto it, Thou shalt love thy neighbour as thyself.  On these two commandments hang all the law and the prophets."

If Christ could have his way he wouldn't have had to teach anything else but to love God, love ourselves, and love all we come in contact with at least as much as we love ourselves. If you're struggling with a long list of things you aren't supposed to do, just remember that the "thou shalt nots" are only there because we're just not as good as we could be at "thou shalt LOVE".

-Lisa

Care for Your Soul

"Let us imagine care of the soul, then, as an application of poetics to everyday life"
- Thomas Moore

It is an important part of our daily rituals and goals to care for our soul. We each have certain routines or purposes that help soothe and care for our soul. Whether that is calling a friend, taking a nap, hugging a child, going for a walk, eating chocolate, dreaming, fantasizing, praying, or maybe just living.

We need to remember that while it is very important to care for those around us, and help serve wherever possible, we can't forget ourselves. As we incorporate all of our many roles and responsibilities into our lives, lets not forget ourselves, our soul.  We would do well to strive to uplift ourselves as well as those around us. To strengthen our own hearts even as we strive to strengthen those near us. And to have patience and forgiveness towards our own mistakes as we also have patience for and forgive those dear to us.

Shakespeare wrote:
 "This above all: To thine own self be true,
And it must follow, as the night the day,
Thou canst not then be false to any man"

When we strive to be true to our-self and strengthen our soul, then we can more fully serve and strengthen those around us. Let us lift up our hearts and strive to be the best that we can, So that we can be the helping hand to those around us more fully.

-Cherstin