The answer to your question is both. Presence is both finding the Light or divine and becoming one with it. It is Divine intimacy. I read Elaine Pagel's Gnostic Gospels several weeks ago…
she described the gnostic view of Christianity much as the Buddhists' believe.
They felt that the journey to the Presence was being Christian…
once the individual came into the Presence they were Christ…
much like enlightenment and finding the Buddha nature within.
A perfect Christmas?
Well, one of my yearly activities is already close to perfection…
my Meeting house is opened up on Christmas eve for 2 hours…
lit only by candles in hurricane lanterns and sconces on the wall…
totally silent except for the breathing of your fellow Quaker, and their coming and going…
it is idyllic.
Prior to becoming a Quaker I used to direct the music for my parish…
Christmas Eve always meant singing 2 Masses (a 4 and 6pm) and then back for the 8 am Mass on Christmas morning…
I really didn't think that I could give up my Christmas Eve singing…
800 people jammed into the church…
and I chose the music…
and sang many solos and duets.
It was such a thrill.
Several years we had 'boilo' and alter boy wine between mass…
Father shared his wine…
and my friend made the boilo…
warm moonshine or grain alcohol with fruit and spices…
a Coal-miners tradition.
I never knew how much of my energy was robbed by the preparation for and performance of those Masses. Now that I don't sing mass, my holidays are much less hectic.
We have certain traditions within our family that I cherish…
home-made stockings hung on Christmas Eve…
sweet-rolls made Christmas Eve and eaten on Christmas morning…
daughter#2 waking everyone up by 5 am because she just cannot stand to wait any longer…
of course daughter#1 refuses to budge until 7…
husband makes egg-nog and delivers it to friends and co-workers on Christmas Eve…
using the same decorations for the tree and most of the house year after year.
I started to decorate this morning. I pulled out a carved nativity set that was a wedding gift 25 years ago…it made me smile and remember many Christmases past. I pulled out my collections of Santas and arranged them on one mantle…and then arranged greens and a reindeer on the other mantle…it is so familiar…I am tempted to change it up…make something new an different…but my family looks forward to this…especially the girls who are away most of the time.
I guess for me Christmas is about the familiar…smells, sights, sounds, tastes…very sensual.
but each year I especially love the peace and quiet of Christmas night…when everyone is content, and the anticipation is over…and we can just be together.
What about you? What is your 'perfect' Christmas?
Love and Light,
Maggie
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