The very busy autumn is over. Hundreds of meetings and small group conversations about ordination, name change, appreciative inquiry, healing, election turn-out, and more!

It’s winter now. In spite of the holidays’ pressure on us to party and decorate and shop and wrap presents – let us take a pause. Time for some stillness. Listen to the quiet, watch the sun hanging low in the sky, ponder all the things you have heard yourself and others saying. Let it sink in. Let your spirit savor the stillness, find comfort in the dark, and breathe a little slower.

After we give ourselves this rest, the new year will dawn and we will get back to work. Soon we begin again the intense and very good work of building the congregation to be stronger, of working for justice, of supporting those grieving from the pandemic and hoping for a return to “life in person.” The new year will come soon enough.

For now, give yourself the time to reflect and be still. Grieve or celebrate, feel regret or thanksgiving, enjoy the new insights or take comfort from memories. What comes to you in the stillness is yours to take up or to lay aside. This is the winter solstice.

Joy and Peace be to you all! — Rev. Dr. Linda Olson Peebles