Inner Light at the Solstice

On a Christmas Eve, not so long ago, I was driving around with friends, looking at Christmas lights. They "oohed" and "ahed" in the front seat while I sat in the back staring out the window, wondering out how the commercial extravaganza starring Santa Claus got scheduled on the same day as the celebration of the birth of Jesus - who, by all accounts, was not at all materialistic(although he had quite a way with loaves and fishes). I recalled that, as a child, I had started wondering about my parents’ religion when I found out that Santa Claus was make-believe. If Santa is just a myth, what does that say about, oh, the story about Jesus and his resurrection? My thoughts then drifted to a scene from earlier that week, when I had given a holiday gift to one of my adult piano students. It was a candle, and when I presented it to her I made a speech about her special inner light and how I honored the extra effort she was making to bring something special and meaningful - music - into her life. She wasn't going to roll over and play dead with the remote control and a bowl of potato chips. She was learning, she was bringing beauty and creativity into her life. And then I got it! When I had played music at the Unity Church I heard the minister speak of the Spirit of Christ which is within all of us. At the darkest time of the year, the Winter Solstice, as we celebrate the earth turning once more toward the sun, we also honor the renewal of the light which is within each of us (i.e., the birth of the Christ Child) by offering each other gifts, just as the Wise Men brought gifts to the young Jesus. So I made peace with the gift-giving aspect of the holiday season, and was also able to resurrect my "belief" in Santa Claus when I regarded him as the part of each one of us which is able to recognize and appreciate the divine essence in all of our fellow travelers.
This Solstice Season give yourself the gift of reconnecting with your inner light. Gently closing your eyes, put your awareness on your heart center, in the middle of your chest. Picture a light glowing there, like a small sun. Inhale directly to that glowing star, drawing in sweetness and warmth. Exhaling, allow the sweetness and warmth to spread throughout your chest. Continue breathing like this, basking in the glow of your inner light.
Now imagine a time in the next day when you’ll be around other people. Imagine yourself recognizing and appreciating the inner heart light in each of the people you encounter. And, as you go through your day, take a moment to remember your divine essence, and to see the divine essence shining from your fellow travelers.

“After all this time the sun doesn’t say to the earth, You owe me. Look what happens with a love like that - it lights up the whole sky.” -Hafiz