The Greatest Gift of All: It Lasts A Lifetime

EDITOR'S NOTE: This post refers specifically to Christmas. For my readers of a different faith, please substitute your special religious holiday as is appropriate. 

'Tis three nights before Christmas. Not a creature is stirring...not a sound can be heard.

I'd created this space and this time to give myself the greatest of Christmas gifts I craved:
Time and Silence.

Should I step out of this sacred space I've created, I'd see the evidence of the Christmas holiday everywhere: gifts under the tree; holiday fruits and cakes; food to prepare and cards all around. They all speak to the activities of the last several weeks and days.

But just for tonight: this space is mine.

The profound sound of Silence.
The profound energy of Time. Alone. Silent.

I don't want to hear a Christmas Carol. I don't want to see the lights of the Christmas tree.
I don't want to feel the beauty of the Season.

I just want to be.

I'd prepared for this by settling in early for a nap. I was in such a determined mood that I'd drowned out all thoughts of tomorrow and the activities of the next few days ahead trying to flood my consciousness.

Now...I just want to be.

I can't tell you why this gift I've given myself seemed more urgent and important this year than any other.

Perhaps it's because the year literally just flew by in a whirl, December 2017 catching up with January of the same year in one tremendous breath.

There seemed to be little time this year to think about the 'morrows' coming, because one came right after the other.  All the holidays seemed to melt into one, and only yesterday we seemed to be celebrating Christmas 2016.

So, yes... give me this gift of Time and Silence.

Ahhhhhh.

Now that's out...let's measure the moment.

Let's truly look at this moment for what it means to you and to me.

This one moment in time.

What am I doing in this moment that brings me so much Peace?
What am I enjoying so much in this moment that brings me utter Joy?
What am I inhaling that brings me sheer Happiness?

Silence at any time brings the spirit of our being to the surface.

As I dwell seemingly alone in this sacred space, I have the deepest awareness
that I am not alone and that I am in communion with my Soul.

The sweet Joy, Peace and Happiness come from the Profound bonding with my Soul.
Even as I type, I feel its Presence guiding me. I feel the deepness of our Connection. 
I feel my thirst being quenched, as I feed from the trough of communion for which I'd longed over the past several weeks.

When we begin to hear and discern the call of the Soul, some people may run away for a vacation at a beach or someplace exotic, thinking that they need a change of scenery. But that's far from what they need, and eventually as they discern the Soul's more urgent calls, they begin to realize that those techniques do not work for them anymore:

The Soul wants what it wants, and often it's simply for us to: "Be Still and Know!"

The Soul will keep demanding this over and over, until we learn the lesson of "being still."

I'm swallowing the purity of its nectar, even as I type. I long to share it with you.

I want you to feel what I feel.
I want you to be as quenched as I now am.
I want so much for you to connect and understand the ground on which I now stand.

Hear me, now:
This communion is available any time of day or night, at a moment's notice, but it's not as profound as when it follows periods of great activities. For some, daily meditation might work. But the Holy Listening to the Soul is something more urgent.

It's a setting aside of our daily going to and fro, indeed a separation from the physical aspects of what keeps us thriving in the world, to pay attention to the Master within. It's about going above the normal frays of life and walking quietly into a sacred chamber that fuels our being.

When we are able to connect only in snatches of time...and then perhaps with strangers all around...the sweetness of the encounter is certainly not as  great. It's meditation, which temporarily refreshes, but we still continue to hear ...and even feel...the roar from within.

Stop now!

So, tonight, I'm drinking from a bubbling spring of Pure Essence. I am still.
I am listening.

I am with you. 
I am here. 

Thank you.
Thank you, O my Soul. 

I think now, too, of the origin of this awareness that we never walk alone.
I think, now, of my mother, who instilled in all her children a love of God.
I think of how much my life would be missing if she had not taught us about prayer and given us an awareness of a power greater than ourselves at work in our lives at all times.

*My mother's Soul remains with me even though it's been decades since her death in 1993.

Her Soul still lives with me.

I know this is so because in the Presence of my own Soul I bear witness to all that was, is, and will be.

I observe people each day... especially during this special time of year... the holiday season... carrying forward their own family traditions: this is evident in foods they cook and share, and what they do during the season. The activities may seem to surround the birth of Christ, or about the Festival of Lights, i.e. Hanukkah, but if we truly get into the "spirit" of the celebrations, we'll see that it's really about our reconnecting with Souls from many generations and centuries ago. (How Santa Claus Originated.)

Each year as we become a year older, the subtly of aging is never more noticeable than in the habits and traditions we've formed. We become our parents, as they live in us and in all we do and say, and in how we navigate our way through the world.

Some of us may spend this time of year entertaining and fixing special meals, and hosting parties.
Others may see this time as one of reflection, honoring the religious rituals of the Season.
Yet others may see it as a time to connect with old friends, family and others.
Then, there's the shopping and gift giving in which we all participate and is a rite of the Season.

Living only from the surface of things, we may miss the gifts inherent in the Season.

It's a time for prayer.
It's a time for reflection.
It's a time for connecting with our Soul.
It's a time for celebrating those who have passed on but whose Spirit, Soul and Essence remain steadfast in us. 

If you learned how to reflect or pray in childhood, in adulthood, or somewhere in between:
You were given the greatest gift of all.

When we pray, we are not praying to some strange, unknown God.
We are praying to our Essence...our Soul... where God resides.
He is more familiar with us than we are with ourselves.

This is a gift of communion with ourselves, and it cannot be packaged, then bought or sold.
It can be taught to others, but it can't be shared.
No one can steal this gift from us, or cheat us out of it...only we can
cheat ourselves by not recognizing its value. 

This holiday season, I want you to put aside all the gifts that money can buy and do this, especially with your children: 

Teach them how to pray. Teach them how to                                                                                           just... be...with themselves.

As the years pile onto their human frames, they will realize and deeply appreciate that
you would have given them the greatest gift of all....as it lasts a lifetime and will also carry them through any and all vicissitudes of life.

Make this Christmas really special: teach your children how to pray!

Happy Holidays! 

Have a tremendously blessed 2018!

My heart belongs to you!

Namaste',
Che'

* Note: Pay attention to this trait in the passing of your parents or a close family member or even friend. See their essence has lingered and become a part of you.