{"id":210,"date":"2011-12-11T11:16:16","date_gmt":"2011-12-11T16:16:16","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/blog.beliefnet.com\/insweetcompany\/?p=210"},"modified":"2011-12-11T11:16:16","modified_gmt":"2011-12-11T16:16:16","slug":"silent-night","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.beliefnet.com\/columnists\/insweetcompany\/2011\/12\/silent-night.html","title":{"rendered":"Silent Night"},"content":{"rendered":"

\u201cMy duty as a religious person is to align myself with the power in the universe I call God. Alignment is what relationship \u2014 any relationship \u2014 is all about.\u201d<\/em> — Rabbi Laura Geller, IN SWEET COMPANY: CONVERSATIONS WITH EXTRAORDINARY WOMEN ABOUT LIVING A SPIRITUAL LIFE<\/p>\n

I\u2019ve been waiting for it for a few weeks, punching buttons on the radio, holding the expectation each time I walk into the supermarket or a store to do some holiday shopping that I would hear it, hear a majestic voice sing \u201cSilent Night\u201d and blanket my heart with calm. The song never fails to lift me beyond the hustle and hassle of the holidays — of the world, for that matter. The respite is much appreciated when it comes.<\/p>\n

As it is for many people, \u201cSilent Night\u201d has always been my favorite Christmas Carol. This is no small feat considering I was raised in a Jewish home. At night after my parents and sister fell asleep, often as\u00a0 snow painted the trees outside my window a wintery white, I\u2019d lie in my bed and sing \u201cSilent Night\u201d — all three verses — over and over again until I fell asleep. This was the beginning of a relationship I\u2019m cultivating with silence and stillness that serves me Winter, Spring, Summer and Fall.<\/p>\n

Today I was whipping around Berkeley, impatiently punching buttons on my radio, feeling a little blue that I had not yet heard my song. I was tired when I came home, and the house was cold, so I crawled under my covers to warm up until the heat kicked in. I lay in bed still thinking about the dearth of \u201cSilent Night\u201d when it occurred to me that I did not have to wait to hear the song, that I could pop in a CD or, better yet, that I could sing it to myself just as I had done in the springtime of my life. I am now, with hair the color of winter snow, the Mistress of my Song. I no longer have to wait for anyone to orchestrate my calm.<\/p>\n

Though this \u201ca-ha!\u201d came quickly, it was many years in the making, and I have yet to perfect the skill. But in this moment, with this small but significant act, all is calm, all is bright.<\/p>\n

Wishing you and your dear ones a joyful, peaceful holidays and a Happy New Year.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

\u201cMy duty as a religious person is to align myself with the power in the universe I call God. 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She speaks and writes about things women care about: how to make our lives and our work be about what we value most; how to navigate challenge and change; how to live with integrity and grace, to look at error in ourselves and others in a forgiving way and view life as an invitation to transform ourselves into instruments for the Greater Good. \"I laughed, I cried, I was silent, I cheered. Most of all, I loved.\" Spoken by a woman at In Sweet Company Retreat, these words express what women experience when Margaret engages them in dynamic, soul-searching conversations about their lives. Margaret holds degrees in art therapy, psychosynthesis, and leadership and human behavior. Her work takes her to universities, to conferences and retreat settings, to living rooms and board rooms -- wherever women gather. 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