Seasonal Dichotomy

Last week’s heavy snow has left a chunky and slippery mess on all of my favorite walking paths. 

It’s cold this morning and I am tired and don’t feel like going out.  I even canceled plans to walk and talk with a dear friend.  

But Blue has other ideas, as evidenced by his excited prancing around the house when I let him  inside from his morning stroll around our property. 

When we get to our favorite trail I have a decision to make.  Do I put on my spikey grippers? Or just try to brave the path in my “bare” hiking boots?  The spikey grippers are great if I want to power through and keep up a good pace.  At the same time, they are a bit clunky, harder to walk in and sometimes make my feet hurt afterward.   I opt to travel light and go without. 

So off we go, crunch, crunch, crunch. 

Unsteady at first, I slowly find a good, slow pace and we are quickly enveloped in the peace of the woods.  I discover if I stay to the side and away from the main thoroughfare, I have more traction and it’s actually a bit easier. 

Hmmm. An interesting observation. If I stay off the frenzied path, it is a bit easier and more peaceful. 

Further down the trail I notice how loud we are. More crunching and a small slip here and there.  Boy, are we noisy! It’s not until I completely stop that I hear the sounds of the brook as it meanders through the snowy forest. 

Hmmmm.  When I slow or stop I can enjoy the sound of nature and feel its peace wash over me. 

Christmastime often presents a strange, seasonal dichotomy.  We speak of simple joys and remembering “the reason for the season.” We sing of Peace on Earth, Good Will Toward Men.” 

Yet we typically scramble about shopping for gifts, decorating and baking, and generally adding more to our “to do” list than is humanly possible. In all the frenzy, we long for the very symbol of the season which eludes us.

Last week I chased after my lists and got caught up in all the doing. 

Today in the woods, I literally walked into the peace which had been so hard for me to find.

Today, I am staying to the side of the fray. I am slowing down and I am even stopping once and again to listen. 

If I am to share the peace of the season, I must start by being the peace.