ST. JOHN'S TIDE: AN ARTICLE REVISITED

Today is St. John’s Tide, or the Festival of St. John. We celebrate this in the Steiner schools with a story about John, some songs, and a meal of fruit, nuts and honey. In our church, The Christian Community, this festival lasts four weeks.

What is this festival about? First, it is the festival of the human being—-not just any man but an extraordinary human being—-which is what John the Baptist was. Can you imagine being put on earth with the task of preparing the way for the coming of the Christ? I would probably turn back. But he faced it squarely, even if it did mean the end of his earthly life. He knew what his destiny was and fulfilled it with love.

St. John’s Tide is also a harvest festival; a celebration of the summer solstice. Ancient peoples, watching the sun reach its highest point at this time, lit evening bonfires to encourage it to shine and ripen their crops. We come dressed in flaming colors when we celebrate this festival. Some parents have even built real bonfires for their children to experience. I like to think this is a symbol of an inner harvest—a flame that drives us to be better, to purify the old, no matter what our circumstances are.

The message of St. John is clear: Change. Change your thinking. Make straight the crookedness in your soul and in your thoughts. Remove all the obstacles that have kept you stuck in negative cycles. Strengthen the will through spiritual work. In short, get your act together and be all that a human being ought to be.

I think this is particularly relevant today given the way things are in our country. The dissonance is deafening. We are such a Catholic country but also one of the most corrupt with probably one out of every two Catholic husbands fooling around with their Catholic girlfriends (or Catholic KTV girls) while their Catholic wives grin and bear it. Shudder. Let’s not forget the very Catholic president who prays fervently but calls (probably Catholic) Garci on the side.

Change yourself. Make things right, even if the path is difficult and unpopular, because you know that’s what needs to be done so that good can permeate the earth. That’s what John stood for even if it cost him his head. He knew his life meant serving others to make a better world possible. It was his destiny, he saw it clearly and accepted it fully. He met it with strength and grace.

I find these lessons simple yet so profound. If we go by his example, we have an idea of what it means to be human—-to be a vessel through which Christ’s work can be fulfilled. Sure, it no longer means moving rocks and stones that lie on his path the way John did; nor does it mean baptizing people in the river so that they awaken to who they are and change their ways. But it means making a conscious effort to change what we can about ourselves—things we already know must be changed– not just for ourselves but for others. Being a man means being faithful to the demands of the spirit, awake to our life’s task, guided by the courage to go for it. Being human means to harvest and transform the gifts of the earth within us to make our lives matter for mankind.

These are but a few thoughts to help us reconnect with the Christian festivals and discover what they mean for us. John the Baptist was a special man—but a man nonetheless–just like you and me. We celebrate his life and strength by cultivating that which can be extraordinary in us. A bountiful inner harvest to all!

June 2006

THRESHOLD

A portion of my Philippine Star article was edited in the paper. I still believe in freedom of the press, so I choose to print my piece here in its entirety.

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It is Easter Sunday, the day when the Christ rose from death and entered the earth and humanity in a new and profound way.  This is the day I make sure the children and I are together, celebrating in the simplest but most meaningful manner.   We light a candle and start with a story about the hare, whose task it is to deliver the eggs to every home, caring for each one so that the light of the Christ--the sun--that is in each one remains intact.   Then off the children go with their little baskets, hunting for real (never candy-filled plastic!!) eggs.

I am unable to do for them today what I normally do, as I am in the process of moving to what I hope will be our forever home at last, but I am fortunate that there is an Easter Festival in their school that is celebrated with as much simplicity and meaning.  I find it fitting that I am again at a personal threshold at Easter time, the same way our country is right at the threshold of true spiritual-cultural change. 

Before sitting down to write this, I took stock of events in society today, from the ZTE hearings to Jun Lozada,  the strong and vibrant indications of an emergent and new power of the people,   the incredible shift I experience in our PAGASA workshops, clearly showing how people are already changing for our country with great zest and determination, and even the response to a rather angry, vicious, though probably truthful blog that has caught the attention of Filipinos everywhere.  It does seem as though we are being peeled from the outside, cleansed, forced to look at who we really are individually and as a people, so that we may finally make a conscious decision to be either part of the change that will take this country forward, or part of the dying energy of destruction and decadence that has kept this country in darkness.

It’s a good time to reflect on where we are in our history and to view this time as one of true potential.  It is the season to celebrate transformation and renewal; we can really ask ourselves how we can make manifest the deed of the Christ that was born this very day, two thousand or so years ago.   What in us can be renewed and harnessed towards true service of our country?

Many people claim they are tired of the drama and toxic politicking that have dotted our history for decades, possibly centuries.  I know this is a sentiment shared by many.  I was there, too, before I decided to be part of the change.  I have not looked back since.  I don’t feel tired or burned-out about the country anymore because I see so much change happening around me.  People who are on the same journey of inner change towards societal transformation are just raring to go and doing great things so quickly, that I am actually more excited and revved up now about the possibilities for our country than I have ever been before.  You can choose to just be tired or you can choose to let that feeling propel you into positive action.

A few years ago, when I first got a call from Nicanor Perlas to join the newly founded PAGASA (Peoples Assembly For Genuine Alternatives to Social Apathy), I was going through a personal death; I felt I wasn’t ready to participate in anything.  Then he said, “You will heal faster if you engage in the world.”  He could not have been more right.  That personal death led me to the many births I have experienced since, each one more profound than the last, in several areas of my life.  I have since learned that a human life is meant to serve the greater whole.  It is not meant for itself alone.  It was self-indulgent of me to think I needed to get to that place of wholeness first before I could serve others.  In fact, it was my very wound that allowed me to plunge deeply into the outer world to create something new and vibrant in the true service of something larger.  I became active outside myself because I got tired of pointing a finger at others, complaining, and feeling helpless and overwhelmed.  I wanted to be part of the solution, no matter what it was, no matter what it took.

The theme of Easter comes into one’s biography several times—tragedy, death, resurrection, and renewal, but it is only at Easter time when one feels (if we truly sense and listen) this impulse deeply because it seems to come to us as a collective energy -- if we are open and sensitive to its call.  Our country stands at the threshold of true change.  It is important to take a closer look at everything that is going on around us and to try to read the messages behind them, fully cognizant of the significance of the season.  Perhaps, if we come from this quiet space of connection to the essence of the deed we remember today, answers we never dreamed possible will finally surface.

A good Easter to all.  

AN EASTER FESTIVAL

If you're looking for a fun, simple, yet meaningful way to celebrate Easter, please join us.  Just click on the photo to view the details. I shun commercial easter egg hunts because the true meaning of the festival is totally lost and I feel that celebrating the Christian festivals properly is such a gift to the children. There is nothing like celebrating simply but purposefully. I hope to see you there.

THE EASTER TREE

Have you started on your Easter tree yet? I've gotten some emails from Waldorf moms asking for ideas on how to celebrate Easter with the kids. The basic theme of Easter is renewal and new life, so I made sure to put greens with the branches I found. This is a shot of my very first Easter tree. I put this up several years ago while on vacation. The children and I had lots of fun decorating the eggs. I used both food coloring and natural (from vegetables like beets, onions)coloring. I experimented with beeswax. I also bought those easter egg decorating kits and just used whatever. Then I crocheted little caps to cover the hole on the eggs, though you can tie the string on a bit of toothpick and insert that through the hole. (For the newbies, the hole is there after you've blown out the egg.) There's still time left to do this. It doesn't have to be so elaborate. You can also do it slowly through the 40 days of Easter so that it can build up through the days and the celebration isn't focused on just the egg hunt and everyone can feel that Easter is really more of a season. I usually start the day by gathering around the table and lighting a candle then telling an Easter story. After the story, the children can go and hunt for eggs--real eggs, of course, also lovingly prepared (though this time, in secret)and hidden in the garden.