Our Soul Matters theme for December is Stillness.  To delve deeper into this topic check out the packet of material for individual reflection. Individual packet for December stillness

Here are some words on the theme from the Soul Matters creator:

“Often when stillness weaves its way into our discussions, it’s framed as a retreat strategy. A balm from the frantic and frequently wounding world. But as wise ones remind us, that’s not quite right. It’s less like a locked room that keeps all the enemies out and more like an oxygen mask that brings us back to life, that fills us with power. Stillness doesn’t simply slow our breath and energy; it fills us with it.

A stillness that invites us simply to escape the world is dangerous. A stillness that merely anesthetizes our nerves comforts us but widens the wounds of the world. To listen deeply to our troubled times is to hear a call to challenge the view that stillness is the resting place at the bottom of the hill we’ve climbed and instead imagine it as the basecamp that launches us into the long trek up the mountain.

And alongside this vision of stillness enabling us to gather strength also sits the equally important idea of stillness as something that clarifies our perception. It allows us to perceive that which is truly precious. And in doing so, it calls us back to our humanity.

When we pause and find that sacred point of balance, that which is precious in life lights up as if in neon. The blur that usually dominates our attention fades to gray and we are able to notice that which truly deserves our focus. Our care. Our commitment. Our love.

And when we are surrounded by and connected to those precious things, a type of magic happens. We suddenly know ourselves anew. We suddenly feel at home in ourselves and the world. That sense of home can calm us or it may challenge us, but either way life comes alive again. So home, maybe that is the true aim of this month. Maybe stillness is not an end but a means. Maybe it is not the destination but the road. The road that leads us home.”