{"id":1087,"date":"2017-01-04T14:47:40","date_gmt":"2017-01-04T18:47:40","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/sanctuaryofwomen.com\/blog\/?p=1087"},"modified":"2017-01-04T14:47:40","modified_gmt":"2017-01-04T18:47:40","slug":"womens-christmas-2017-walking-the-way-of-hope","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/sanctuaryofwomen.com\/blog\/womens-christmas-2017-walking-the-way-of-hope\/","title":{"rendered":"Women’s Christmas 2017: Walking the Way of Hope"},"content":{"rendered":"

\"Wise<\/a>Image: Wise Women Also Came<\/em> \u00a9 Jan Richardson<\/p>\n

Friends, it is that time of year when I get to wish you a Merry Women’s Christmas and share a gift that I’ve created for you in celebration of the day!<\/p>\n

You might already know that in some parts of the world, Epiphany (January 6, which brings the Christmas season to a close) is also celebrated as Women’s Christmas. Originating in Ireland, where it is known as Nollaig na mBan<\/em>, Women’s Christmas began as a day when the women, who often carried the domestic responsibilities all year, took Epiphany as an occasion to enjoy a bit of respite and celebrate together at the end of the holidays.<\/p>\n

Whether your domestic duties are many or few, Women\u2019s Christmas is a good time to pause and take a break from whatever has kept you busy in the past weeks or months. As the Christmas season ends, this is an occasion both to celebrate with friends and also to spend time in reflection before diving into the responsibilities of this new year.<\/p>\n

It has become a tradition for me to create a retreat that you can use for Women’s Christmas\u2014or any time you’re in need of a space of respite and regathering.<\/p>\n

This year’s retreat is titled “Walking the Way of Hope.” As I continue to make a life in the wake of my husband’s unexpected death, I have found myself thinking a lot about hope. I have learned how persistent hope is, how stubborn. It keeps finding me and inviting me to engage my life and this world. This retreat offers an invitation for you to do some reflecting, wondering, and dreaming about how you experience hope in your own life, and what invitations it holds for you, especially when it becomes hard to hope.<\/p>\n

The retreat is very flexible, easily adaptable to your own purposes. You can do the retreat anytime you wish, by yourself or with friends near or far. It includes an introduction with some thoughts about how you might use these reflections.<\/p>\n

Clicking the link below will take you to a page on this Sanctuary of Women site where you can download the retreat as a PDF file. There is no cost; this is my Women’s Christmas gift to you! If you wish, you can make a donation in support of the retreat; contributions will be shared with the A21 Campaign (a21.org<\/a>), which is devoted to ending human trafficking and providing sanctuary, healing, and hope for those rescued from slavery.<\/p>\n

Download the Women’s Christmas Retreat<\/a><\/h3>\n

You are welcome to make copies of the retreat to share with friends. I would be delighted for you to offer this gift to others by sharing this blog post; you can use any of the social media icons at the bottom of this post or simply forward the link to others.<\/p>\n

This year’s retreat opens with a new blessing that I’ve written for you, which you can find below. As we celebrate the day and enter into the year ahead, may you walk with hope. Merry Women’s Christmas!<\/p>\n

How the Stars Get in Your Bones<\/strong>
\n A Blessing for Women\u2019s Christmas<\/strong><\/em><\/p>\n

Sapphire, diamond, emerald, quartz:
\nthink of every hard thing
\nthat carries its own brilliance,
\nshining with the luster that comes
\nonly from uncountable ages
\nin the earth, in the dark,
\nburied beneath unimaginable weight,
\nbearing what seemed impossible,
\nbearing it still.<\/p>\n

And you, shouldering the grief
\nyou had thought so solid, so impermeable,
\nthe terrible anguish
\nyou carried as a burden
\nnow become\u2014
\nwho can say what day it happened?\u2014
\na beginning.<\/p>\n

See how the sorrow in you
\nslowly makes its own light,
\nhow it conjures its own fire.<\/p>\n

See how radiant
\neven your despair has become
\nin the grace of that sun.<\/p>\n

Did you think this would happen
\nby holding the weight of the world,
\nby giving in to the press of sadness
\nand time?<\/p>\n

I tell you, this blazing in you\u2014
\nit does not come by choosing
\nthe most difficult way, the most daunting;
\nit does not come by the sheer force
\nof your will.
\nIt comes from the helpless place in you
\nthat, despite all, cannot help but hope,
\nthe part of you that does not know
\nhow not to keep turning
\ntoward this world,
\nto keep turning your face
\ntoward this sky,
\nto keep turning your heart
\ntoward this unendurable earth,
\nknowing your heart will break
\nbut turning it still.<\/p>\n

I tell you,
\nthis is how the stars
\nget in your bones.<\/p>\n

This is how the brightness
\nmakes a home in you,
\nas you open to the hope that burnishes
\nevery fractured thing it finds
\nand sets it shimmering,
\na generous light that will not cease,
\nno matter how deep the darkness grows,
\nno matter how long the night becomes. <\/p>\n

Still, still, still
\nthe secret of secrets
\nkeeps turning in you,
\nbecoming beautiful,
\nbecoming blessed,
\nkindling the luminous way
\nby which you will emerge,
\ncarrying your shattered heart
\nlike a constellation within you,
\nsinging to the day
\nthat will not fail to come.<\/p>\n

\u2014Jan Richardson<\/p>\n

[The Wise Women Also Came<\/em> image is \u00a9 Jan Richardson from the book Night Visions<\/em><\/a>. To use this image or order an art print, please visit this page<\/a> at Jan Richardson Images.]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Image: Wise Women Also Came \u00a9 Jan Richardson Friends, it is that time of year when I get to wish you a Merry Women’s Christmas and share a gift that I’ve created for you in celebration of the day! You might already know that in some parts of the world, Epiphany (January 6, which brings […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"jetpack_post_was_ever_published":false,"_jetpack_newsletter_access":"","_jetpack_dont_email_post_to_subs":false,"_jetpack_newsletter_tier_id":0,"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paywalled_content":false,"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paid_content":false,"footnotes":""},"categories":[8,6,4],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-1087","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-blessings","category-christmas","category-sacred-time"],"jetpack_featured_media_url":"","jetpack_shortlink":"https:\/\/wp.me\/p190Xv-hx","jetpack_sharing_enabled":true,"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/sanctuaryofwomen.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/1087","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/sanctuaryofwomen.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/sanctuaryofwomen.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/sanctuaryofwomen.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/sanctuaryofwomen.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=1087"}],"version-history":[{"count":12,"href":"https:\/\/sanctuaryofwomen.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/1087\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":1099,"href":"https:\/\/sanctuaryofwomen.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/1087\/revisions\/1099"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/sanctuaryofwomen.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=1087"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/sanctuaryofwomen.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=1087"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/sanctuaryofwomen.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=1087"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}