There are so many layers connected with holidays.  It is easy to feel the demands of the past and the present.  It is a time when comparisons run amok and guilt and shame can easily raise their heads.  We can even feel bad about feeling bad about a holiday.

We have been experiencing very loud and visual tragedies recently.  It is easy to respond to these incidents by going to fear or anger within ourselves.  So often the place we need to be focusing on is the light in the situation which is neither loud nor visual in many cases.