For Unto Us – In the Divine Love of Christ Ever Unfolding
“Love Incarnated Becoming” – image by Dalmo Mendonça
Each week of Advent and into Epiphany, we’re offering practices and invitations of becoming, as we have this year following each of our articles.
The last two years, we’ve had written reflections throughout advent with the themes of Adventing Christ Consciousness and the Divine Feminine. We’ll be drawing upon those writings (and sharing the links) to be the source material for our Becoming invitations.
you are invited, if you like, to read the articles informing these practices for the FOURTH week of Advent:
The Birth of Christ Consciousness in Us
God Giving Birth to You
What Does the Birth of Love from the Womb of the Divine Mother Look Like?
This advent season, we have been receiving the invitation into the womb of the Divine Mother. As we welcome our place as the Christ child, we participate in the gestating of divine becoming, ready to be born anew in us and in the world.
In this great womb, we have held the deep hope of new life. We have rested in the peace that passes all understanding. And we have welcomed the fullness of joy from the earth divine.
Now, on the cusp of Christmas, our hearts quicken with the expected arrival.
Who is being born in our midst?
How are we to emerge from our own birth that is before us?
What might be the cosmic birthing in this time?
It may be too simple to name this Christ child as love.
And yet what else could we name it?
In the wholeness of all that love is and all that love becomes, we might highlight one aspect of this great love being birthed here and now in our divine becoming: let’s call it “evolution.”
For unto us is born love of God, not as a one-time event, but as an ever-unfolding evolutionary becoming of divine love in the universe. The little town of Bethlehem in every village, city, and stable across the globe. The manger, every heart that makes room.
What makes this love so alive is its unending action of continual becoming. It is an evolutionary love that is always growing and changing, always becoming more and expressing in new ways. Every year, every day, every moment.
And it does so not as an abstract energy or ethereal force. But in the consummation of the divine and human incarnation in each one of us, in all of us together.
We are living in the labor of divine love ready to be born anew in the world through us.
We are giving birth to the evolutionary love of God in the world.
We are being born into the tender and gentle love of our Divine Mother, nurturing new life.
We are being born as love in spirit consciousness, awakening ever more into awareness and expression—manifesting in and as our lives, this day and always.
In the cosmic womb, in the womb of the Divine Mother, in the deepest substance of matter and the universe, we emerge. We are born as Christ. We are born in love, as love, for love.
From the innate power and cosmic force of divine life arising into being, God is being birthed in unending and unyielding ways. In the form of you and me. And many more.
For such a time as this.
We are being born anew for these times.
Come see! Come see the Christ child born this day.
For she is radiant with brilliance.
He is full of splendor and delight, shining like the sun at dawn.
They are filled with hope, joy, peace, and love.
We are glorious with new life and light and love.
And, as always, birth is just the beginning.
A Christmas Curatio Divina with Pine
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A Plant Healing Practice from Martha O’Hehir
We are each wired in different ways. Some of us respond best to the written word, some to the spoken word, some to music, some to art, some to dance. We can connect to God through each of these ways. Though we may have a preferred sense through which to pray, the richest prayer life will come through experiencing God through all your senses.
Curatio divina is translated as “divine healing.” While we heal in many ways, this practice—in a way similar to lectio divina, audio divina, etc.—focuses on one “text” or object with which we engage deeply into a process of opening to spirit. Again, we welcome our incorporation with nature and the physical world in our way of prayer and healing, bringing our embodiment into relationship with earth as incarnate divinity.
From Martha:
About five years ago, I was relaxing one evening, during a difficult time of my life, staring at the Christmas tree and I heard Jesus, as if inside of me, say, “I stand before you like this tree, to light up your heart(h), and fill your life with light, beauty, and joy, and with love, courage, and hopeful action. Receive the gift of my presence and light into the darkness of your life. Every year, let your tree be a reminder of my desire to take up residence in your heart and hearth.”
This year, I heard the “nudge” of my Guru Jesus in the words of herbalist Nick Polizzi, when he said, “I was stringing up lights around our Christmas tree (a potted pine) yesterday when it dawned on me. Whoa, we’re actually honoring sacred tree medicine right in the middle of our house… The Christmas tree is a prime example of a wild medicine that is hidden in plain sight. Revered by those who came before us, this noble plant is a shining reminder that the forest holds many healing secrets that are waiting to be told… to those of us who are open to hearing them.”
This rekindled thanksgiving in me for how Sophia, in her great wisdom and love, has graced us while on this planet with everything we need for health. Especially in the plants, as living beings and bearers of Christ energy, we are graced with healing and nurturing remedies- in the leaves, the flowers, the roots and stems. And now, here was a reminder of the benefits of the pines! If your Christmas tree is known to be grown organically, you can use it, but if you are not sure, please use pines from your property or a known and trusted source.
Here are ways you can enter into a practice of Curatio divina with pine (shared from Nick’s recent newsletter):
1. Use the bark. In a survival situation, you can actually eat the bark of a pine tree. But the easiest way to reap its benefits is using pine bark extract, which is packed with powerful antioxidants, including vitamin C. The extract is made by grinding up the bark and boiling it in water, and has been shown to lower glucose levels, improve diabetes symptoms, prevent hearing loss, restore balance, stave off infections, protect the skin from harmful UV rays, restore circulation, improve erectile dysfunction, reduce inflammation, even increase athletic performance—and the list goes on.
2. Use the needles. Also loaded with vitamin C—more than five times that of an orange—along with vitamins A, E, and a host of B vitamins, the needles are a cherished part of the pine. Pine needles have strong antimutagenic, antioxidant, and antiproliferative properties, which help in preventing the growth of cancer cells. Try making your own tea with the following recipe:
Sacred Pine Needle Tea
Ingredients:
½ cup young pine needles (a small handful)
3 cup spring water
1 slice of lemon (optional)
Instructions:
1. Bring water to a boil.
2. De-stem and remove the brown papery sheaths at the base of the needles.
3. Chop needles into ½-inch pieces, to help release essence.
4. Place 1 tbsp. of chopped needles into a mug and pour boiling water over top, allowing to steep for 5-10 minutes.
5. Squeeze lemon into tea for flavor, or use as garnish.
3. Use the nuts. The “fruit” of these sacred trees can be found in the scales or spines of the pinecone, and is known for its own set of health benefits. These include: appetite suppression, boosting energy, reducing risk of heart disease, anti-aging, and improving vision. Use the nuts in salads and other recipes, or simply enjoy them as a snack.
4. Other Uses. Pine essential oil can alleviate headaches, relieve pain, boost energy and mood, treat acne and other skin conditions, act as a decongestant, and freshen a room—or you can add a few drops to a bath for a rejuvenating and restorative experience. The “pitch” or sap also has powerful antibacterial and antimicrobial properties and can be used in a healing salve for aching joints and sore muscles, shallow scrapes, and wounds, or on the chest for an aromatherapeutic agent.
And finally, here is a prayer from a Native American tradition, (also reprinted in Nick’s newsletter) to aid your connection to the wonders and gifts of nature:
Dear Great Spirit,
You are inside of me, within my very breath,
within each bird, each mighty mountain.
Your sweet touch reaches everything, and I am well protected.
Thank you for this beautiful day before me.
May joy, love, peace and compassion be part of my life
and all those around me on this day.
I am healing and I am healed.
If you like, you can also end the practice by opening to any action or intention arising in you from these practices.
A Christmas Prayer of Cosmic Love
The following prayer is from If Darwin Prayed by Bruce Sanguin. He says, “Our vocation is to ‘Christify’ the cosmos in and through our very presence. To celebrate Christmas, then, is not only to celebrate the birth of Jesus but also to assume responsibility for this sacred birth happening in and through us.”
We invite you to take this prayer as an offering from your own heart throughout this week and on Christmas Eve, with whatever adaptations and expressions you find arising from your own prayer.
The Point of the Process
Luke 2:7
Now, O Holy One,
we enter sacred time,
time suspended,
when history surrenders to mystery,
and we ourselves are taken in,
and taken up,
by a love story.
For this, the universe bursts into being.
For this, the galaxies shine—
lights strung upon a Christmas cosmos.
For this, supernovas make sacrifice
and our sun pours itself out
in the service of life.
For this, the march of life on Earth
makes its exuberant procession—
now present in lowing cattle,
in a single shining star,
in shepherds and angels,
and in proud parents—
to a Bethlehem stable.
And on this holy night,
no less,
does the cosmos coalesce in us
as we take our place
on the stage of sacred mystery
to celebrate the point of it all—
that you come to us
in self-emptying love
the moment we enter
the mystery of this Christmas birth.
Amen.
Becoming Divine Love in Heartful Presence
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An Invitation to Being Present in our Spheres of Influence
So then how do we live?
The phrase “Spheres of Influence” refers to the areas of our life we may not have control over but nonetheless are able to make a difference and impact through our presence and actions.
As we seek for our spiritual practices and learnings to impact our lives and make a difference in the world, we can intentionally and consciously consider how we might integrate these lessons, practices, and ways of being in our everyday lives.
In this season of Advent, we’ll invite you to consider how you want to live out these practices of becoming in your daily lives, impacting others in your spheres of influence, whether they be in person locally, unbound by geographical space online, or throughout the mystical cosmos!
As we consider and welcome the advent of love this week, we also seek to bear and become people of love—to be the evolutionary becoming of love in the world.
What will this look like in our lives? In our day-to-day actions?
This week, with special attention on cultivating an open heart of divine love offered and expressed through your presence and actions, you are invited to consider the following reflection questions:
1. How might you receive and give the gifts of Christ-light this week? What offerings of your heart do you feel drawn to give this week in love? Set the intention to offer at least one gift from your heart, perhaps listening in meditative prayer for what that might be and who might be the recipient.
2. Reflect on the idea of the manger being every heart that makes room. In what ways might you be called to create space in your heart or life for something new to emerge? Sometimes making space is a necessary part of being able to give and serve more in our lives in the future.
3. As we celebrate the birth of Christ and the unfolding of divine love in the world, how do you feel invited to co-participate in this birthing process? Where do you see this cosmic birthing happening in the world around you? How might you join in supporting and amplifying these birthing movements of love?
Join Us in Practice and Commuion During Advent!
This Sunday at 11am Eastern, come partake in a time of shared engagement with these themes and practices:
Join on Fridays at 11:45am Eastern for a weekly advent meditation with the theme of the week:
(if you’re not already a member of our online community page, the Mystical Garden, click here to join)
All Images are open-source, used with permission, or created by ICN