6th Day of Christmas: Gathering the Year.

Here is some tender guidance (with a touch of Kierkegaard and spiced wine!) to lead you through this threshold time.

Fog at the river. © A. Furchert 2024.

Dear Pilgrim,

This evening, as I walked through the quiet, fog-shrouded streets of downtown, the world seemed suspended in a moment of in-betweenness. The city, stripped of its usual hustle, felt like a liminal space—neither here nor there, neither past nor future. The damp air held the lingering scent of rain, and the faint glow of streetlights blurred at the edges, inviting a sense of reflection. It struck me how much the year’s end feels like this: a threshold where time pauses, inviting us to gather what has been before, stepping forward into what will be.

So today, I invite you to join me in gathering the year. A year which has been so full of broken hopes for so many. And still. We will reflect on what to take forward, what to leave behind, and how to honor both the challenges and blessings of this past year. This invitation includes a meditation, deeper prompts, and a closing with music and spiced wine :-)

If you have some time, you can use the deepening practices and reflections below. If not, you might just ponder the “blessing at the threshold” while listening to the beautiful recording of Bleak Midwinter by Katie McMahon and stick to just three questions:

• Which joy can you harvest while reviewing the past year?

• Which joy from the past year do you want to cherish for yourself in the new Year?

• Which joy from the past year would you like to offer to others?

Take your own pace in reflection, and return to this practice as needed in the coming days.

Here is your

Blessing at the threshold

**

May you find moments of stillness and grace
as you pause to gather the year.
May hope guide you forward,
and the lessons of the past gently
shape your path ahead.
May this threshold bring
peace and renewal,
comfort and purpose,
repose and revival,
as you begin this step
into the New Year.

AF

**

And may Christmas find you, where you are, Almut, with Chuck and little one

PS: Leave a heart or a comment, so we know you have been here. And, if you feel comfortable to do so, share some of what arrived in your heart with us.

Feel free to also forward this email to another kindred spirit.

Deepening the Reflection

We are approaching another threshold, walking towards the night where the old and the new year meet. A spiritual practice we teach in our retreats is that of pausing within the threshold to gather up the past and anticipate the future. One can do this literally as one enters a room, pausing to become present to what the new room offers, or metaphorically at the beginning of a new task or time.

So in the last days of this year, we invite you to walk along with us towards the threshold of the new, pausing at some point (whenever you can make the time) to gather up the past and survey the future, and then welcoming the first day of the new year with replenished spirits. January 4, the first Saturday of the new year, we have assigned as a day of reflection for this journey. A time to revisit our journey or a practice. If you are too busy right now, you might choose Saturday instead, or whatever works for you.

And so, gently approach this threshold, pause where the old and the new meet, and patiently, gracefully consider:

• What do I want to take with me into the New Year?

• What do I want to leave behind?

• What experiences surprised, burdened, or challenged me this year?

• What joyful moments come to mind?

Finding your guides

Søren Kierkegaard, the Danish spiritual writer, draws the image of life's journey in one of his "Upbuilding Discourses" by introducing us to two internal guides provided by providence: One who calls forward, the other who calls back.

The two guides are not in opposition but work together to shepherd us on the way. The one who calls back looks with clear eyes on the past, on its pain and on its consolation. The one who calls forward reveals with hope the small clarity we might have about the future. Together they guide us on the way, not mired in regret, irresolution, or despair, but instead chastened and encouraged for the journey.

Our task as pilgrims at this threshold is to welcome both guides: the one who calls us forward and the other one, who "coming along afterward, laboriously gathers up the experience."

You likely know how easy it is to get stuck with just one guide or the other. We are so often worried about our future that we miss living in the present time. Sometimes we are so lost in regret for failings, sorrow for losses, or outrage for injustices, that we forget about our hope for the future.

And so the present time, the pregnant moment, the only fleeting time we really have, is when we are able to walk forward while, at the same time, taking our past experience with us. Thus, at this threshold, when the old has not yet passed and the new has not yet begun, we pause. Our guides, if we embrace them, will help us to redeem the year and cradle hope for the coming one.

Gathering the Year

Here are some questions for you as you approach this threshold. You might do this practice at one sitting, or across several days. Find a quiet place to journal, perhaps with a candle and a cup of tea or spiced wine (see the recipe below). Sit comfortably as you write your reflections and reactions to these questions. Remember, we are on a threshold. From here, we can follow our guides and look both back and forward. We are safe here, with guides to counsel and to protect us.