Angel Wings & Wonder
Oh! The sweet memories of making angel wings for the annual Christmas pageant!
I remember the concentrated task - the texture and smell of tissue paper and Elmer's glue on my fingertips - the surge of glitter and the tattered white satin gown with the gold sash that my mom would revive from the attic.
The advent made my heart sing!
I loved the story of Jesus – the fearless feats of wonder - mystery and faith … the guiding star in the depth of winter that announced his birth!
At seven, I knew this story ... the flame that still burned bright inside - I knew nothing of darkness. My mind had yet to dismiss the possibility of immaculate conception and had not turned away from the lesson in order to disprove what I trusted with all my heart.
So, it was easy to admire the courage and certainty of the three Nabatean sages that followed the stars - easy to be enchanted by the gifts wrapped in miracles as wondrous and as textured as the robes they wore and the lands from which they traveled - easy to be made whole by the wisdom of our story, the resilience of our faith and the healing quality of our transformation - a story of love emerging through the threshold of body and flesh, thought and desire being born into the world.
Gold and the story of our wisdom.
It was Melchior, whose name means King of Light, that brought the light of gold to Jesus. Gold is the stuff that's mined deep in the core of the body and psyche; it's the stuff of collision and stars - the dust from which everything came - the radiance of kings.
The wisdom of our story is an inescapable historical map of our shared lineage - we are Royal, the one reminding us that wisdom is inclusive and ascending -- a rising tree of many layered branches whose deep roots anchor it in the fierce wind.
This is why we must face our inherent darkness - in order to get to the light. The darkness rises toward the light, waking us up to the illusion that we're separate or that we have any control over history.
Acceptance is the gift of spirit and kingship.
Acceptance asks us to wake up and face the truth of our story and the ways we are keeping it alive - to be capable and boundlessly responsible with and to each other. It asks, "What must I accept? What must I surrender?"
Myrrh and the resilience of faith.
It was Balthazar, named Protector of the King, who brought myrrh as a foreshadowing of the suffering and sacrificial death of Christ. The Commiphora Myrra trees that produce myrrh are known for their ability to grow in unforgiving environments; a bulbous swelling in the trunk merges with the rock as a result of the tapping which causes the formation of aromatic 'tears' of resin.
The wisdom of our resilience is in our ability and faith to weather the wind and 'tears' of the storm - to adapt to the conditions of life and environment in ways that purify and produce strength and fragrance - ways that include a critical awareness of uncertainty.
Trust and faith are the gifts of rising spirituality in the relinquishment of identity.
Trust asks us to look up and challenge our beliefs and to affirm the qualities of resilience that confirm the wisdom of our failure and tap into our faith. It asks, "What failures have helped me to grow? How has doubt and suffering strengthened my faith?"
Frankincense and the healing process of transformation.
As keeper of the treasure, Casper brought frankincense. Like myrrh, this fragrant resin is cultivated through the gum that bleeds out when a tree's wound penetrates through the bark - through the thick layers of identity.
The wisdom of our transformation is in the healing [holy] quality of contemplation, forgiveness, and compassion. It's the willingness and commitment to be the person we want others to be for us! This sacred wisdom is the gum - the binding story of ascension.
Divinity is the gift of healing.
Divinity asks us to grow up and forgive - to shift the vibration of our beliefs toward forgiveness in order to transform. It asks, "Who must I forgive? How am I already 'whole'?"
Be still! The herald angels sing, "this is the new birth - the newborn WE!"
Just as the earth once met the sky for the first time, the West has awakened to meet the East, and a new faith has come to claim our divinity -- our destiny.
Love.
Love is the pure state - the pathway - the threshold of consciousness through which we can claim our kingship and there is no belief or thought or religion or object or reason that can change what is changeless.
For we are all kings tasked with serving our kingdom! And that kingdom is not somewhere else - not above and not below or in the dependency of another - but is the very seed of who we really are.
Once we allow ourselves to touch in deeply - to trust this place - this wisdom, this resilience, this transformative potential - we access a boundless core of faith:
That one breath follows the next
that the tree inhales what we exhale
that the wings of angels rise and fall
that the darkness swallows the sun and then gives birth to the moon and the stars
a light piercing through the dark night of the soul, cutting through ignorance
signaling the advent of our spiritual awakening and the return of the Magi bearing more gifts
more hope
more faith
more love
more compassion
more courage
more wonder.
What is being born in you right now?