First Quarter Moon of Advent

Tonight is the First Quarter Moon; we are one-quarter of the way through the moon cycle. The moon is waxing - getting larger - until it's full again. Now is the time to remain flexible, use my obstacles as fuel for growth, and show full effort for priorities.

This dark season puts limits on our lives. Chinese philosophy says winter is a time of conservation and storage; the night, the feminine, water, and cold is dominant. We slow down, go inward, and spend more time on quiet, yin activities.

Luckily, advent is four weeks long, allowing us to grow slowly and steadily towards the light: Let yourself go inward now - be like the bear in her cave, saving your strength and relishing the darkness. Don't celebrate Christmas too soon; allow yourself to experience the darkness of winter, against which it shines.

Agenda Today:

1. Prayer for the Light

2. Journal queries

3. Make a full effort plan

4. Write a mission haiku

1. Prayer for the Light:

As the earth grows colder,
the winds blow faster,
the fire dwindles smaller,
and the rains fall harder,
let the light of the sun
find its way home.

2. Journal queries:

Today, at the first quarter moon, I prepare to give full effort to my priorities; I remember that for each opportunity in life there is a challenge. 

My theme this month is grace, and the challenge to receiving grace is being unaware; if I am distracted, I will find it hard to notice the grace being presented to me! The practice for meeting this challenge is to bring my attention back to the present moment, over and over.

Which of my priorities am I having the most trouble acting on this month? 

 

Which challenges do I face this week and month (things I don’t enjoy, don’t know how to do, or feel blocked on) and how can I best meet them?

What do I need (tools, information, allies) in order to best practice the habits of awareness of grace?

3. Make a full effort plan: 

Full effort (sometimes called exertion) is one of the steps of mental discipline on Buddha’s eightfold path. Buddha was urging full effort for awakening the mind; a first step is to practice full effort for whatever is most important in your life right now - for your priorities.

Today I made a full effort plan for hosting a baby shower, scheduled for just 1-1/2 weeks way now. I've already got a crew lined up, but there are lots of details to figure out. Time to get a-move on!

My plan:

• Gather decoration supplies this week: Red papers, red poster board, red felt, red tinsel, branches and vases for tables.
• Plan a onesie decoration project with hearts and pens, as well as a big brother shirt, and collect supplies.
• Get together on Saturday with my special helper to make decorations: Sew a heart wreath and make hearts to hang under the canopies, and on branches.
• Sunday: Measure the space and decide on canopy placement (draw a map).
• Monday: Order cupcakes, collect drinks, and find others to prepare some of snacks.
• Collect small tables, red blankets, etc...
• Assign decoration tasks to decoration team, so I'm not in charge.

4: Write a Mission Haiku:

My missions are my various big projects or directions in life. I've been working all this year to better understand my spiritual self, and my spiritual path, and this month I'm becoming aware of Grace: I intend to remember to be aware of the experience of receiving the Grace of God (which could happen at any moment, and could arrive as a feeling of freedom, light, and love, or as a thought of epiphany, or as an essential understanding of who I am), because Grace is the way I will transcend earthly needs and wants and become my True Self.

 

Today I'll write this mission / intention as a haiku, because a poem has a unique ability of getting to the core of a Truth, and I'm always surprised by what surfaces. Here's the steps I use:

1. Write a brief, evocative sentence or two describing this top mission in my life, and the significant issues that surround it:

The issue is awareness beyond my thinking mind and my emotions. I forget to pay attention on the other level, to slow down my planning to be in the moment, and take note of the Voice of the Divine. When I do notice, it creates a shift that transcends reason and opens me to growth. I want more of that!

2. List the most exciting or pleasing verbs that describe what I want to do with this mission:

Transform, grow, notice, remember, receive

3. Next, list some core values that prompt this mission:

Love, purpose, truth 

4. Turn these sentences, verbs, and values into a haiku (5, 7, and 5 syllables) or a Cinquain (2, 4, 6, 8, and 2 syllables), or in this case a short mantra, that gets to the core of my mission, and gives me a framework for my actions.

Slow down

Listen for Truth

Transcend thoughts and feelings

Remember to BE in the moment

Grow in Grace