8th Day of Christmas: Beginning anew.

Welcoming the first day of the year with a Walking Meditation.

Come walk with us. (Photo by Adriann Meyer on Unsplash)

Dear Fellow Traveller,

We hope your New Year’s celebrations went well, and that you have arrived in the new year whole and at least a little bit rested. Here are our well wishes for your year ahead.

Today, we invite you on a New Year’s Day walk. It is a way of gathering up the old year and welcoming the new, on a human scale measured by the steps we take.

Last night our house was full of children celebrating the new year, making balloon animals, watching the fire in the hearth, roasting marshmallows, playing chase or doctor, dancing and jumping, and of course eating. Together with friends, we celebrated the German New Year, at 5 PM our time in the USA. And, when all the children had gone home or to bed, we sat around the table at midnight, spoke of our hopes and fears, and sang Bonhoeffer’s iconic poem “By Gracious Powers Wonderfully Sheltered” to open our hearts to each other and to the new year.

And now, in the chill light of the new day, we invite you on a walk with us. Come, find some time today and walk with us into the new year.

Chuck, with Almut & little one

PS: Leave us a heart (click on the heart in the bottom left side of this email) so we will know you have been here and received our greetings.

Beginning Anew: A Check-In and a Walk

Before we step into today’s New Year’s walking meditation, let’s pause for a tender check in. We have been wondering how you are doing as we move through this journey of the 12 Days. Where are you on this journey, dear friend? What is working and what isn’t? Have you found moments to reflect, or are you waiting for the right time to dive in?

Wherever you are, know this: it’s never too late to begin again.

Also, if you have been waiting for some dedicated time to process the 12 Days, mark your calendar for Saturday: On that day, we will lead you into your personal Epiphany retreat, a self-guided time to revisit the journey and to deepen your path. We just opened a chat window - our virtual gathering space - for all who wish to share photos, impressions, drawings or inspirations from the journey—like those from today’s walk.

So, as we step into today’s meditation, keep in mind that there will be time to catch up on Saturday. For now, let’s begin anew.

A New Year’s Walking Meditation

Years ago, as I began to know Almut and her family, I was introduced to the tradition of the New Year’s walk. That time, we walked around the small village in East Germany where her family had hosted a house-church for decades. The circle road was mostly dirt and grass, looking on the surrounding fields, all in winter’s sleep. The conversation, as much as I could understand it, was about mundane events of the year, and the day, and the last (very excellent) meal. But the walk somehow opened us up to the adventure of the new year, far more than sitting around the kitchen table did. It was movement, activity, and a welcoming of going forward. But also a time of recollection of the old year and old times, this field road to the river, that abandoned house, the remains of the old train station, this house being renovated by new owners.