Preparing for the preparation? As Advent is a time of preparation, I guess that is kind of what I am doing today. Some of you might say that it is not Advent yet, but in the Celtic tradition, Advent starts 40 days before Christmas instead of the four Sundays before Christmas that most of us are used to. I found this out a couple of years ago and really liked the extension of days.
In a meditation this morning about honoring our vessels where we hold our energy, I was struck by the connection of that practice and Advent. We talk about Advent as a time for us to prepare for the coming of Christ at Christmas, but what does that mean to prepare? Does it mean shopping for Christmas presents and decorating the tree and the house, and baking Christmas cookies? At one time, I admit that was pretty much the extent of my priorities. But what about preparing ourselves, as if we were the vessel or the home where Christ would come? What would that mean?
I was introduced to The Dragontree and Briana and Peter Borten through the Dreambook Planner they created. It has become a part of pretty much every day since I started using it seven years ago. Even though Briana and I do not practice the same faith traditions, I find her thoughts so applicable with my own. This morning was one of those times when it was too aligned for me to ignore.
One of the ways Briana mentioned to care for or vessels was to care for our nervous system. As a way for energy to pass through us more freely, we were to oil the outside of our frayed nerves to make them smooth. Because I work with yarn and have noticed some frays in the yarn I am currently working with, I could imagine myself coating those possible frayed ends in my nervous system. I learned that oiling my nerves was also a way I could help prepare myself to be a better vessel this Advent.
And that led to this. I do not use oil to dust very often anymore, but today I just felt led to do so. As I dusted and polished, I thought of smoothing out those anxious ends. I felt myself moving slower so the oil could really sink in.
Now, I will save what I was going to post for today for tomorrow. I also need to do some oil polishing. Funny how the simple act of oiling the furniture can have a much deeper meaning if we allow it.
