Welcome to Volume 12 of the Tao Out Loud newsletter where we’re finding everyday magic, every day! If you’ve come here by chance, or a friend passed this on, I hope you’ve come to stay. Sign up below so you don’t miss a thing.
There’s kindness in how gradually
You mete out our times and our seasons. Moments to honour the mystery,
Minutes to measure our reasons.
Merry Christmas ye lads and mostly lasses! Mel Robbins shared the best ever advice today. She said that in these last few days before New Year’s we should be doing as little in the realm of work as possible. We’ve most certainly earned some time to unwind, she said, and I’m sure we all agree she makes a good point. Still, theory and practice being two distinct matters, I have learnt in the process of trying to follow this advice, how tremendously bad I am at just sitting still. And so a December mail-out is born…about as big a win as the success of my first ever Christmas turkey attempt this year (yes I’m still talking about it)…do enjoy!
The Magic of What’s To Come
Every year around this time I start to panic about my orchid.
Daphne Regina Portia, when in full regalia, is quite a sight to behold. But in these ‘wintry’ months, she becomes a sight of another kind. Thirsty roots sit tangled like yarn. A bone dry stem from which proud blooms raised their heads now supports only broad, thick leaves darkening from sage to soot then brightening to shades of mustard. These eventually make their descent to become one with the topsoil of the garden. I resign myself at these times to inevitability. Surely my lack of attention—and watering—has finally brought about Regina’s demise. After all, gardening isn’t really my thing. I should just be grateful she’s survived this long.
Rest in peace, sweet flower…
But then, I lift the terracotta orchid pot and make a pleasant discovery. The greenest, strongest, healthiest roots are working their way in and out of the drainage holes, full and fat with potential. Despite how it seems on first observation…despite seeming likelihood or expectation…beneath the surface, there are signs of life. There’s hope. Something good is yet happening. There is discernible growth, covert capacity working its way to the sunlight. It never fails to catch me by surprise.
I am reminded of this once more (unexpectedly) on a call with someone special. She rang to wish us a Merry Christmas and though I’d mentioned nothing about Regina or much else for that matter, she called a similar circumstance to mind, a conversation held between us in another space and time. With nary a prompt, she assured me. “No matter how it appears now, those things that look like they’re dying will sprout again. They’re blooming for you. Our Heavenly Father wants you to be still and to know that He is God.” She wasn’t talking about plants then, and I received it as a God-wink. Take those words for yourself as well. He speaks (and confirms He’s spoken) especially when we least expect it.1
“Happiness was the greatest gift of expectancy.”
Becoming Mrs. Lewis by Patti Callahan
The winters of our lives can communicate to us that everything is over, that we’ll never again see sunlight, that the Spring season that has always—perpetually—come, that seems to show its rosy face for everyone but us, has this time absconded from only our calendar. We imagine an enchanted Narnian scene where the White Witch has triumphed. We feel doomed to an intolerable, eternal winter. Barrenness and stagnation, grim fate, hibernation; emptiness in the ‘same old’, worry that all will remain cold. But I want to suggest to you that Aslan is waiting in the wings.
How wondrous when the Lion King will bring with Him Spring, just as He did and just as He does. Finally, there comes an end to the winter, as inevitable an exit as its entrance in the first place, hope smuggled in as unanticipated miracles, the scent of water, the temperature of life.
We receive His promise of advent in these mundane moments of existence, knowing they’re a dress rehearsal for a greater glory to come when The Lion—Emmanuel God with us through each and every season—will wipe every tear, bring bleak, bitter nights to an end and plant us forever in the Son.
A Few of My Favorite Things
One of the joys of the season is receiving Christmas cards each year. As you can see, we stack the tree and it adds that little bit of warmth and spark to think of home, that is, the people who because of their love and friendship, are ‘home’ for us, no matter where they are in the world. One of these came all the way from Singapore, and one heralds glad tidings of great joy to come! Ironically from two families with Alleyne surnames, love you guys!
The picture on the right though is an unexpected return on an investment of kindness. There’s a lady at the end of my street who told me her name when we first moved here. I made a point to remember it and since then I don’t pass her house without voicing a personally addressed greeting, even though I knew she probably didn’t remember my own.
This year when I dropped my neighborhood Christmas cards in mailboxes, I decided to include her, though she’s several houses away. As a reminder, I told her it’s from “the brown girl who always says hi when walking by.” This morning, she showed up at my door with this handmade card (appropriately titled), a correction on the spelling of her name (which j’adore), and this gorgeous ornament, elegantly wrapped. A sense of humor and a creative eye. I am just chuffed. She had a book about Jesus in her hand I noticed, and she signed the card, Shanti, Gabriele. And now I’m intrigued and feel like I have more to stop by and chat with her about—as neighbors do— especially since I’ve been thinking of taking up French.
And I just want to encourage us to be open this year. Be friendly, take chances, risks even. Embrace the virtue of ‘seeking kindness’. “Not for a day or a season, but for a little bit longer” as the calypsonian says. And I know that what you give will flow back to you in kind. Sometimes it’s the gifts we cannot hold in our hands that are most precious of all.
An oldie but a goodie, I’m sharing I Will Exalt You by Hillsong Worship because I’ve found it soothing to the soul, good for the spirit that seeks sojourn, strength for the heart that would confess before it sees, that would receive the blessing of “…she who believed”—an expression of trust in the Lord who will bring what He’s spoken to pass. (Luke 1:45) May it be a song track of renewal for you as it is for me and for this other sister too.
Finishing Touches
Finally, in the spirit of the season, an old year exhaling and a new one unfolding, I’ll leave you with an excerpt from my 24 Day Advent Devotional, A Holy Invitation.
Day Twenty-Four: Finishing Touches
Now let’s end where we began. On Day One we talked about snowflakes and the extravagance of our God. These tiny flecks of ice each bear the carvings of a Divine Craftsman; not one like the other, perfectly executed, each one a wonder. Yet, because their true intricacies aren’t visible to the naked eye, most will never be fully recognized or appreciated. Think how many of these masterpieces get crushed underfoot, scraped off windshields, mixed in with the slush on busy city streets. It brings the Creator joy to etch them anyway. To Him they are still purposeful, and down to the last detail worth the breadth of their existence, however frail, however brief.
In much the same way, He has etched us into eternity, masterful creations, glory fading fast. Each one of us uniquely fashioned down to our very fingerprints, with our DNA a signature of loving precision. There are aspects of our beings that another man may never excavate, preserved in privacy for His enjoyment alone. So, He makes His mark on the human heart, devoted to completing the good work He has begun in us.
Humanity was the mould Divinity poured Himself into; so through the person of Jesus Christ He can make on us His finishing touches. To Him we are that purposeful, and down to the last detail worth every breath of His existence, however frail, however brief. Thanks be to God for His indescribable gift!2
I hope this letter serves as a timely reminder of how precious you are, what wonder awaits you, and how much goodness and purpose goes before you into 2022. Thank you for spending time here this year, you can’t imagine what it means to me!
Chao for now, with love.
…By the testimony of two or three witnesses every matter will be confirmed. 2 Corinthians 13:1 (TPT)
Speaking of gifts, there’s still time to grab my Making a List, Checking it Twice notebook and Dwayne’s new book release, Spring Up O Well, from your favorite retailer. Look out for more from us in 2022!