Tis the season for festive gatherings of all kinds. Convenings across Georgetown in December have brought the university community together to celebrate the beginning of Hanukkah and the coming of Christmas and usher in a time of holiday rest and enjoyment after a long semester.
A few weeks ago, Mission in Motion reflected on the spiritual meaning of gratitude, noting that such a disposition is hard to come by especially when gratitude seems to be in short supply. The same caution about gratitude can be applied to the sense of celebration that these many holiday gatherings are meant to cultivate. In light of the ongoing reality of war and suffering around the world and in our homes and communities, it would be wise to put any holiday celebration into a proper context. We can still come together and celebrate, however, in spite of significant challenges and adversity in ourselves, our communities, and the world, and seek out and receive the gifts of being in community.
This week, SCS came together for the annual student and faculty holiday party. I had on my mind the wisdom of Cole Arthur Riley, a spiritual writer and liturgist, as I experienced the glow of the SCS atrium on a dark and cold December evening. Riley writes movingly about wonder and how wonder relates to growing one’s capacity for greater love of self, others, and world:
“Wonder includes the capacity to be in awe of humanity, even your own. It allows us to jettison the dangerous belief that things worthy of wonder can only be located on nature hikes and scenic overlooks. This can distract us from the beauty flowing through us daily. For every second that our organs and bones sustain us is a miracle. When those bones heal, when our wounds scab over, this is our call to marvel at our bodies – their regeneration, their stability or frailty. This grows our sense of dignity. To be able to marvel at the face of our neighbor with the same awe we have for the mountaintop, the sunlight refracting – this manner of vision is what will keep us from destroying each other. … Wonder requires a person not to forget themselves but to feel themselves so acutely that their connectedness to every created thing comes into focus. In sacred awe, we are part of the story.”
My own sense of sacred wonder wandered from various details and scenes at the festive gathering. I noticed students chatting with faculty members and faculty members meeting other faculty from different programs. I saw the line of guests waiting on a delicious spread of food and drink expressing their gladness with looks of excitement and contentment. I wondered at the meticulous details of festive lights and colors and sounds. I experienced wonder in the way that the shared experience of being at Georgetown could bring so many people together for this occasion. I marveled at the joys of spontaneous sparks of laughter and conversation and merriment. There was a lot to wonder about in the particular details of the party. To Riley’s invitation, I was filled with the beauty flowing through this brief occasion and hoped that others felt this way, too.
As the semester wraps up and we prepare ourselves for the coming weeks, I invite you to practice a sense of wonder about the world around you. A stance of wonder does not need “scenic overlooks” but the details of the everyday. Habits of awe and wonder, especially in times of stress and challenge, can help us all feel the sacred connections that make us a community.