St. Nicholas Day Kindness

My grandson's first St. Nicholas Day, 2020!

Today is St. Nicholas Day. My theme for this week of Advent is "Striving to find unity and peace with all the people of the world". One way I do that is to try to be in harmony with the people I interact with (especially those who irritate me), and one way I do that is to work at being a kinder person.

Kindness is our outward expression of day-to-day love. You practice kindness with polite language, and other small acts and habits like gracefully waiting your turn, using a friendly tone of voice, offering help, giving a compliment, or a simple smile. I'm not going to bore you with a list of random acts of kindness - you know the drill.

Agenda Today:
1. Advent Prayer
2. Kindness meditation
3. Love journal
4. Make tree ornaments

5. Make Speculaas

c1. Advent Prayer:

O Saint of love,

be a guide for us in our lives, we pray,

that we may create joy for each other,

as you have done for so many.

From St. Nikola an der Donau, Austria

2. Kindness meditation:

This week I'll try to spend a few minutes each morning in quiet meditation and re-affirm my intention to be kind, to others and to myself. 

I really like this Kindness Guided Meditation for children, by Alessandrina Dorer, at the Epic Self site.

3. Love journal:

When we are at our best, we extend kindness to friends and family, co-workers, neighbors, strangers and service workers, and we also extend kindness to animals, plants, and to the Earth. We begin to learn to be kind when we are small, so we should be experts, but we still manage to be rude and hurtful at least sometimes, maybe unintentionally, and if not out loud, at least in our thoughts.
 
What is your growing edge?

This week I intend to-

• Practice holding my tongue (including inside-my-head-talk); less snapping at people!
• Try to follow through with any strong, generous impulse that comes into my heart - if it is mostly reasonable.
• When I am impatient, cruel, or clumsy, just take a breath, accept myself as I am, apologize, and gather my resolve to begin again.
• Remember to be kind in the face of the meanness of others; to "counter the barrage of contempt and disrespect in the world by bringing forth a kinder, gentler presence," as Marvin Thomas says in "Personal Village".

And growing the kindness habit requires some introspective: The work is mainly an inner dialogue, so for this next couple of weeks I will keep a separate Love Journal to help me to see habits and patterns in relationships, and realize where I need to grow.

4. Make tree ornaments:

Today is a good day to start to stockpile small gifts to give to neighbors and friends, and to use as stocking stuffers. 

I've been doing some sewing with my 2-year-old grandson; he likes to use the sewing machine - in 5-minute increments!

We started with some green felt triangles and a bag of colorful trimmings. Everyday I ask if he wants to sew and that's his cue to move straight in to the sewing room; he sits on my lap and we sew one more little piece of trim onto a tree.

I thought he might also like to sew on some buttons, but he has shown NO interest in that, so I'll finish that part. 

By the end of the month we should have 2 or maybe 3 ornaments done! (Patience, Grasshopper.)

5. Make Speculaas:

I feel my cookie-making urges returning, after a couple of years hiatus (no parties to go to during a pandemic, so no motivation to bake). 

These Dutch cookies are traditionally made in a windmill mold. I don't have one, so I used cookie cutters. Speculaas are thin and crisp and spicy- much better than the packaged windmills. It seems like a lot of spice, but it's beautiful! Notice that the dough needs time to chill - start it the day before you want to bake them.

Ingredients:

• 
  1 cup unsalted butter, softened 
• 2 teaspoons vanilla 
• 3/4-c. granulated sugar 
• 1-1/4 c. dark brown sugar 
• 2 large eggs 
• 3-1/2 c. flour 
• 2 tsp. baking soda 
• 4 tsp. cinnamon 
• 1 tsp. nutmeg 
• 1 tsp. cloves 
• 1/2-tsp. white pepper 
• 1/2-tsp. ground ginger 
• 1/2-tsp. cardamom
• 1 tsp. salt

1. Cream together the butter, vanilla, and both kinds of sugar until light and fluffy. 

Add eggs and blend well.

2. Whisk all of the dry ingredients together and slowly add to the butter mixture, combining until the dough looks smooth. 

3. Divide the dough in half. Wrap each half in parchment paper or plastic wrap, and refrigerate for several hours or (better) overnight.

4. Preheat the oven to 350ºF. Roll the dough out very thin, 1/8 to 1/4-inch thick, and cut with cookie cutters. 

Bake at 350ºF for 10-12 minutes.