If you enjoy this story, you’ll find 112 just like it in my new book Wake Up Call: Daily Insights for the Spiritually Curious, now available from Wildhouse Publishing.
Is it springtime yet? It has been an especially frigid January here on the Eastern Shore of Maryland and I’m about ready for some warmer temps and mornings where I’m greeted by a brilliant sunrise at 7am and not by a gray-tinged darkness.
One positive note about winter: It’s a great time to hunker down, ideally in front of a warm fireplace (if not possible, a lit candle will do)—and in contemplation or silent prayer, listening to the yearnings of the soul. One person who might guide us in this initiativ is the retired Reverend Peter Lanzillotta, now of Charleston, South Carolina. He has written 4 books that deal with each season and its impact on the soul.
Seasons of the Soul Winter: Reflections on Wisdom, Grace, Tolerance and Love, takes us from late-December to the first day of Spring. With an entry for each day of the season, the Reverend offers us a favorite quote, followed by mini sermons, some just a few paragraphs long, others stretching for pages. While some are related to specific days, like Christmas, Valentine’s Day, and even Groundhog Day, many passages have spiritual messages that transcend the calendar.
Lanzillota has an extensive religious background. Trained as a theologian, he retired as a Unitarian Universalist minister. While he mostly worked in Protestant churches, he had a second ordination as an Independent Catholic priest. His views on religion and spirituality are best described as interfaith.
What follows are 5 passages from Seasons of the Soul Winter that I found especially meaningful and that you may want to contemplate. I’ve picked up the quotes that Lanzillota used and edited his words, while keeping their intent. I’ve also added some thoughts in italics on point 5.
- Where you are right now is where you need to be
Know that in whatever state you find yourself that, at the moment, it is the best for you. Do not look back upon what might have been. Rather, lift up, look up now, where you are. ~Edgar Cayce
Don’t dwell in remorse or regret, if you’re unhappy with your place in life. Accept that where you are right now can be transformative! From this place, regardless of your age, creed, or social status, your spiritual life can begin again or continue to unfold, ripen, elevate or mature.
- Dare to be your true self
Public opinion is a weak tyrant compared to one’s own private opinion. What a man thinks of himself, that is what determines, or rather, indicates, his fate. ~Henry David Thoreau
To achieve meaning and purpose in your life, requires your involvement and commitment. It also might include some risk. Our lifelong task is to be true to our heart, no matter where it may take us. In the end, how true we are to our hearts will determine how we have lived.
- Give thanks to God
If the only prayer you say in your whole life is “Thank You,” that would suffice. ~Meister Eckhart
To quote Matthew Fox, “Eckhart believes that gratitude is at the heart of an authentic spiritual experience. In fact, prayer for him is an act not of begging or beseeching or wanting—but of thanking. Thomas Aquinas also taught that the very essence of a true religion is gratitude.”
Even though it is often overlooked, except briefly on Thanksgiving, gratitude is one of the chief virtues in any authentic spirituality. There are times when we are compelled to look deeper for answers. With persistence, this introspection can reshape our awareness, and our consciousness of the good of God in our lives.
- Listen for guidance
There is guidance for each of us and by lowly listening, we shall hear the right word … place yourself in the middle of the stream of power and wisdom which flows into you as life, place yourself in the full center of that flood, then you, without effort, are impelled to truth, to right, and a perfect contentment. ~Ralph Waldo Emerson
Listen with a quiet or humble heart to the inner stirring of your conscience and the convictions of your soul. Emerson recommends the art of intuitive listening, to suspend the chatter of our minds. With time, you will learn to trust the words and feelings that come as inspiration, and use them intuitively as a source of guidance.
- Engage in adult rituals
What follows is an excerpt of a sermon on the need for adult rituals. Reverend Lanzillotta makes a compelling case as to why we they are needed in our lives.
There’s a great lack of affirmation for aging, and an almost disregard for ethical and religious rituals that can affirm the aging process. We fail to recognize how we mature as a whole person once we enter adulthood.
In our larger Western culture, we have an adequate recognition of human beginnings and early development. We are given either a bris or a baptism, a dedication or christening, and then in early adolescence, either a mitzvah or a confirmation, or possibly some other recognition such as a “coming of age” ceremony.
Are there any church rites and rituals for adults? Well, other than signing the membership book, there can be a marriage ceremony. But what do we have after that? The social sciences have recognized various adult stages, but what about our churches? What do our spiritual communities recognize? What do most churches offer after the marriage ritual? Well, let’s see … there’s your funeral!
There are many adult passages that we could celebrate: such as when our children have grown and left the house, when we retire, when we first become a grandparent, when our spouse dies—all important events and personal experiences worthy of a celebration or an acknowledgment of some kind.
Amen, Reverend! There’s a great focus in our youth on commemorating events, from birthdays to every level of school graduation, nursery school through college. Let’s also add periods of commemoration in our adult lives. Think celebrations of any life or work milestone, including quitting a job you don’t like, completing an art or craft project, or commemorating the first day of spring. Let’s add more adult rituals to our lives—suggestions welcome.
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