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Sunday, December 15, 2024

Advent 2024 : 15

 











The Church of England’s theme for Christmas this year is Calm and Bright, words taken from the carol Silent Night. Calmness and brightness are images that belong with the parasympathetic nervous system that is meant to kick in when present danger is past. They are associated with the hormone oxytocin, which plays a part in protecting the new mother’s body from excessive bleeding, in the stimulation of milk production, and in the social bonding of mother and child. And because every person is different, every birth has its own unique experience of oxytocin, of calmness and brightness welling up or somehow being quenched.

But these feelings, that may be experienced by the body, are also experienced by the mind. In the aftermath of childbirth and having been visited by the shepherds with their tales of an angel army proclaiming peace, Mary treasured all these words and pondered them in her heart. Whereas the treasure that had been held in her womb had now been brought out for the world to see, Mary builds up a new treasure in the warm darkness of another inner chamber. She will return to them many times over the years to come, and not least in times of external and cold darkness. Fleeing to Alexandria. Standing at the foot of the cross. In times when anxiety rises within her, she will quell the storm. And also, in times of joy. In the family home at Nazareth. At a wedding in Cana.

Calm is a regulation of our emotions, such that we can ride the waves, neither tossed about by crashing breakers nor stuck in a doldrum. And we can adopt practices that grow our ability for calm, as non-anxious people.

This morning, I sat in the darkness with Mary, allowing my eyes to grow accustomed to the light – for there is light, even in darkness – and breathing slowly and deeply. Just for a few short minutes, before moving into my day.

What practices help you to be calm and bright?

 

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