Whew!!!  I’m glad it’s over!!  Every year I love it, but I am always glad when it ends.  What am I talking about?  Why the holidays of course, the annual stress time when the glitter almost, but not quite annihilates the meaning of it all.  I always love it, and next year I will be back for more.  I’ll also be grateful when the season ends.  When you think about it, it really doesn’t make sense.  Why do we cram so much into one season that it inevitably creates stress and burns us out? Well, I don’t really have a good answer because I am such a willing participant.  

This is the way the roller coaster works in my life.  I know it’s coming because the stores start to decorate just as soon as Halloween is over.  Then the music starts, the Santa and Rudolph stuff that reminds me that it is time to shop.  Wreaths and trees are displayed before leftover turkey makes it to the fridge.  When the smell of balsam is in the air we begin to get serious.  Trees go up and lights come on in windows.  We begin to think in terms of a Secret Santa and Toys for Tots.  Salvation Army kettles take up station outside stores.  Church fairs abound.  Choral groups sing.  Mall parking lots begin to fill.  Annual parties are given.  Cookies are exchanged, and cards begin to arrive.  Soon, all the traditions are in full swing and I slide into an overload of color, light, food, music, and gift giving.  It may be excessive, but I’m on a ride that ends abruptly in a flurry of wrapping paper and opened packages.  Suddenly I realize how tired I am.  I remind myself that yet again I somehow missed something, and that something may be the meaning of it all.

I then reflect on what got lost.  For me it is often the opportunity just to be in and with the season.  It can be the chance to quietly share with friends and family, reflecting on how important they are to me and how they enrich my life.  I get so busy that I miss the chance to hear the still small voice that speaks to me about the meaning of the season.  This can be the biggest loss of all.  So, every year I ask myself why the holidays are so stressful.  I know the answer, but I’m just like everyone else.  I just get caught up in it.  I may love it, but I sure am glad when it’s over.

The last few weeks of economic turmoil have shaken our confidence in structures and people we believed were worthy of trust.  At some level we are in shock and we feel betrayed.  The latest Ponzi scheme is a perfect example of a lie that endured for years, inviting both greed and trust.  The bold illegality of the scheme is almost easier to understand than how it pulled in so many.  This, along with other recent events raises an important question.  Who can we trust with our resources during these tumultuous times, and has trust become old-fashioned when lying and greed have so infiltrated our way of life? 

Trust is a basic building block in human development.  If we do not have trustworthy people in our lives, it becomes difficult for any one of us to mature into a trustworthy adult.  Just as we need to have confidence in people close to us, we also need to have the same confidence in institutional structures that provide stability throughout the entire life span.  Without this stability we are in danger of becoming victims in search of someone to blame.  This is not healthy for either the individual or the social network.

What can we learn from these times?  We learn that if it looks too good to be true it probably is.  We learn that we are not entitled to receive more than others.  This applies to investments and anything else, for the sense of entitlement can blind us.  We learn that there are misplaced values in our society, and some of the most seductive cluster around greed, status, and acquisition.  We learn that there can be a disconnection between professed values and those that are acted out in everyday life, inviting us to pay attention to what is being acted out.  We learn that it can be dangerous to look for someone or something to blame, particularly if we allow this to take us off the hook of being responsible for our choices.  Blaming is a great diversion. However, what may most important is what we are discovering about trust, for we are learning that without it we lose the fabric that binds us together.  Without trust we feel alone in a dangerous world.  We cannot afford this.  The price is the breakdown of community.  Perhaps these tumultuous times can offer the opportunity to re-evaluate our entire value system, for we need enduring and trustworthy values.  Without them we are all damaged.

Our president-elect is coming to office at a time that is almost unprecedented in our history.  Financial underpinnings are failing at a rate that boggles comprehension.  We watch bastions of stability crumble and wonder what has gone wrong.  It is becoming obvious that change is on the horizon, for some type of change is necessary in order that we survive and thrive.  Given our circumstances we may find ourselves more open to change than ever before, for we acknowledge that the need is dire and we could face further disintegration.  The very severity of our situation sweeps away reticence as we recognize that old strategies no longer work.

So where does this leave us?  It leaves us with choices.   Some of these may offer genuine new possibilities.  We can try to endlessly patch economic policies that are no longer functional, or we can recognize that we have a rare opportunity.  We have the gift of a clean slate, a gift that comes only when one model fails and we must create something new to take its place. When I consider the gift of a clean slate I understand it to offer both incentive and opportunity to evaluate our entire way of life.  This evaluation may be a necessary prerequisite for the creation of quality change that will endure long into the future. 

We cannot understand the enormity of the problems that face us unless we understand how we were careless enough to get into the situation in the first place. Perhaps our comprehension of the world economy was faulty.  Perhaps we were blinded by self-interest.  Perhaps we have been holding values that undermine our well being in the long run.  History will eventually give answers these questions, but now we must rely on our innate resilience and common sense.  We must step up to the plate and reinvent our system so that our children and grandchildren will look forward to the lives they deserve.

The days are getting shorter.  The nights are colder.  The leaves are off the trees, and we hunker down for winter.  We are entering the time when daylight is short, the annual time of darkness.  We carry an additional burden into the season this year, for the economy seems to be in free fall.  Everywhere people are concerned about how their families will survive hard times.  Violence strikes in unexpected places, reminding us of our vulnerability.  So it is with some trepidation that we enter this season of darkness and wait for the light to return.

The great historian of myth, Joseph Campbell, has noted that two things bring people together, terror and aspiration.  Great myths are born out of fear and hope.  We come together because we need each other when we are afraid, and we come together to find hope for the future.  He has further suggested that all great myths offer a framework for our growth, a way that we can become transformed into the best of our nature.  This is our true potential—becoming the best that we can be.  Myths are like templates that help us to get there. Perhaps this is why we find so much music and light at this time of the year.  Perhaps this is why we celebrate new life, for we need hope and we find it in vulnerability and humble beginnings.  These require only simple offerings to attest to their truth.

The darkness is a time of waiting.  It is a time when the unknown has not yet revealed itself out of the great void of all possibility.  So, we wait through the night and keep each other company. We need sights and sounds that stir memory as we seek to develop new myths to meet the needs of our time.  We find meaning by wrapping ourselves in tradition so that we can move forward into the unknown. We sing the familiar songs.  We make the night bright with light.  We offer charity and good will wherever we can.  These simple acts remind us who we are, and that we never were alone.  We are community, and we take the journey through the darkness into the future together.