The Ninth Day of Christmas: Werkin’
Do not wait to be joyful. Play now.
It is time to return to work. For those of you who are new here and do not know, I work as a hospice chaplain. It’s beautiful work and I am privileged to get to do it. Mostly, I visit people in their homes. We do have one 16-bed facility, a “hospice house” which I love, but most of my time is elsewhere.
Today, I will play catch up after being off for a week. I checked last night, and there are 500 emails waiting for me. I will delete the vast majority of them, but hidden in there will be actionable items that need my attention.
Do not wait to be joyful. Play now.
I made a bit of a stink about not making Resolutions at the new year. It’s true. I’m not a fan. That said, I am still constantly working on myself, letting go of shame and perfectionism and trying to give myself permission to act upon my dreams. Working with the dying and bereaved has underscored the necessity of such a way of life. We do not have long here. Dying happens. To all of us. So, do not wait to be joyful. Play now.
For me this year, the Ninth Day of Christmas is about the gradual return to normalcy. Epiphany approaches, and we all have gifts to offer and a star to follow. I’m turning my attention to the star and wondering about what gifts I may have to bestow upon the Christ Child.
To that end, I will be spending much of 2024 trying to strike a new balance between my “werkin’” life and my creative life. I enjoy my work. I also enjoy writing. Making music will need some attention as well. Music is an ever-present companion.
I will be finding ways to structure my days to allow for time to write more. There is a book-length project in my brain somewhere and I’d like to get it out. I’ll be speaking to
about that soon. Y’all need to follow her.
January is full of presentations and writing assignments. I will be writing an opinion piece on “agape” this week for Faith On View. I have a presentation to give on spiritual friendship for work. Finally, I have been asked to kick off a speaker series at The Gayton Kirk here in Richmond. My talk will be titled “Listening As An Act of Love.” The series is about how communities expand their perspective about worship practices. I’m looking forward to it.
It is still Christmas. It is not the Christmas of overwhelm and festoonery. Rather, it is the Christmas of offering oneself to God as a gift. You are a gift, to God and to others. As hard as it is to remember that at times, it is true. I hope and pray that these remaining days of Christmastide will show you that grace and be an encouragement to you to act upon who you are. So, again, do not wait to be joyful. Play now.
Be excellent to each other.
"festoonery" -- I rather like that word! Thanks for sharing. This part of Christmas, the quiet part, is my favorite. I'm impressed that you're not overwhelmed with 500 emails! See you on day 10.
Lots to contemplate as I am also working on putting together meditations for the prisoners. There are some wonderful lines in your 9th Day that speaks to their needs - I will share with them. You and Nadia have so much that I can/want to/will incorporate into their weekly meditations. Because my real interaction with them is the music - keyboard and choir direction - I feel we are carrying on CP's work.