Faithful Fools

As the great pause slowly turns, we sense that soon the Winter Solstice Season will end. There are just two days left—today and tomorrow in our annual 5 days of reflection. Today we take stock and prepare. In so many ways, we are living in an era of uncertainty and distress. Conflict, worry, and upheaval are all around us, unsettling us and giving rise to great doubts about the future. So we hold steady for one more day, and rather than turn our eyes to the future, we continu

“Sabbath,” we say, “is a time of reflection where we are not required to produce anything. We may choose to be creative or quiet, in conversation or meditation, moving about the world or very, very still.” Sabbath, which the Solstice Great Pause celebrates, is that moment when we leave work and problem solving behind and find that place deep within where insight lights the way. Today is the day between reflecting on the past and looking to the future. This year, we are asking

Today, the Second Day of Winter Solstice, we look back at the last year and savor the company of those around us. There are people in our daily lives who lift us in gentle ways, often without our ever knowing how much we rely upon them. These are the people we see in the coffee shop or on the bus. We might send them off to school every morning or greet them in the office once we get there. They are people we see at church or in AA meetings or on a Zoom once a month. They are

To be our best selves. What an achievement that is. Like no other, it is an achievement that repeats often and is also often elusive as we question who we are and how we show up. Are we in our best guise? Are we somehow letting ourselves and others down? Elders, those people who have showed up in our lives with great presence or great love or great wisdom (or maybe all three), are essential in how we grow into our best selves and how we show up as our best selves. Carmen Bars

Join us for 5 days of reflection, December 19th to 23rd. We will publish a reflection for each day as we prepare for the days to come.

The holiday lights are lit. The weather is chilly in many places, perhaps snowing or rainy. There are also places where the sun is out,...

Yesterday we asked: “In the world beyond your daily routine, beyond your family, your work, and your friends, what calls your attention?...

Amid all the traditional parties and holiday lights, we forget that this is not only a holiday season. It is also a dark time of year.

Tomorrow, there will be proof positive. Tomorrow, there will be just a little more daylight . . . there will be an ever-so-subtle knowing...

­It’s all too easy to romanticize the dark as I sit warm and dry in my beautiful comfortable home gazing out at the redwood tree dancing...

Remembering our traditional solstice gatherings, may we soon gather again in person. A table sits in the middle of the room filled with...

Today is the second day of Solstice. Everything is quiet. Shall we tell ourselves a little story about a quiet winter evening like this...

Let's say this poem together And the days are not full enough (take a deep breath) And the nights are not full enough (take another deep...

On December 21st at 7:58 AM (if you are in the Pacific time zone), the northern most tip of the earth will be tilted far away from the...