The Surprising Advantage of New Year's Day: A Synchronizing Ritual

Over the course of a year, a lot of change happens. From work and relationships to internal growth and mourning loss, the world is constantly changing.

How do we deal with change healthily? How do we vulnerably confront the changes of life, its loss, and its possibilities?

Synchronization is a process of being in tune with change so that we intentionally adapt to the emerging world around us. Having a ritual on New Year's Day gives a collective means to mark the events of our lives and ritually sync with where we have been, where we are, and where we are going.

We also explore the word "rachaf" which is about having moments of profound intimacy where we are interacting with the full presence of life and its changes in a transformative movement that makes us in tune with what will never be the same again.

https://ko-fi.com/becominghuman

Re-telling the Story of Christmas:

What is a different way to think about Christmas? This episodes is taken from a project at The Farmhouse in rural NW Ohio that goes through:

• A meditation on how the context of the nativity connects with our world today.
• A synopsis of Christmas with different angles and emphases.
• The Story of the King
• The Story of the Shepherd

Both of these are unique tellings of the point of incarnation and the nativity emphasizing how this concept called Christmas can impact how we live as human beings.

For a video version of this content:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=KNVuwjjddsk

How did the modern version of the Christmas season come to be? From Santa Claus and the reindeer at Macy's Thanksgiving Parade to the classic songs, these traditions are not only new, they were created by department stores and other industries.

This doesn't make it bad, but we should be honest about it.

There are also other versions that might be better. What are other versions of a generous gift giver? Is Saint Nicholas a viable candidate?

Ultimately, this episode tries to make a case for having an honest understanding of Christmas traditions and an encouragement to know the history of Saint Nicholas and how his story might be useful in our contemporary culture.