A few days after Thanksgiving, thinking about Christmas coming up, I decided to buy some paper white bulbs, hoping that I could get them to bloom. I found a container that was the right size and found some pebbles to anchor the six bulbs. I carefully nestled them into the pebbles and filled it with water just up to the base of the bulbs.

Within a few days one of the bulbs immediately showed signs of growth—and it has grown every day since. And other five bulbs? No growth whatsoever. Somebody advised me to try adding a little alcohol to the water, which I did. Nothing. Not sure what is going on. As I have watched this play out the past couple weeks, I have noted that at times my focus has been on the one bulb that couldn’t wait to bloom. At other times I have been very much focused on the five that have yet to show any sign of growth. As I have pondered all of this I have come to see my bulbs as a kind of metaphor for this season—mixed blessings wherever I look.

Last year’s disruption was felt like a kind of one-off—yes, things were not the same but for this one year it was actually good to notice how it was to not be in some of those holiday routines. This year, with this new and seemingly nasty Omicron strain, comes the realization that life, in too many ways, will be different going forward. This isn’t just a temporary thing. Lots of wise people have been saying that for a long time now but perhaps I just wasn’t ready to hear it. Some of the things we took for granted will not be returning. And with much of it that’s just fine. But there is also loss with the things that won’t be blooming again.

And maybe the spiritual task is to not only notice those things that feel like losses but also to notice what is growing and blooming. Isn’t that, after all, what the season is all about? What I try to remember are those things that we can count on, no matter what happens with the pandemic. No matter what life brings. One of them is the constancy of the community we share. One of them is the realization that we’re all in this together. May each of us find a place of peace and hope this season.

A number of you were touched by the reading in yesterday’s service. It was an excerpt from a poem entitled “Being Human” by Naima Penniman. Below is a link to the full version of the poem, in her voice.

Blessings in this holiday season.

Tom