Good morning friends. The whole world is will be celebrating Christmas day. Maybe some were not celebrating it in a very special way. Maybe some are only praying, some celebrated in their most gorgeous way. But the importance is the spirit of it.
Ashankur or Seed of Hope, a women's empowerment centre at Bhokar, a village in Ahmednagar district, Maharashtra was home for me for the past two months. The experience prepared me to embrace the spirit of Christmas.
I woke up every morning to the pungent yet soothing smell of fresh earth, with a view from my room of shimmering green fields. Mynahs flew in and out of the room. I could see the Seven Sisters, parakeets and kingfishers twittering in the branches of trees, koels calling out to each other in song and wasps grubbing on insects, while squirrels darted from tree to tree. All these sights and sounds of nature were like balm, soothing and healing the wounds of hurt.
Nature at Ashankur was at its beautiful best with lilies, roses, gerberas and other flowers, with Gulmohur trees arching over. Cool breeze accompanied by sudden cloud burst and rain would sometimes cover the village in darkness. Living close to nature, and away from the noise and bustle of the city, i could not but take a second look at my life. The question before me this Christmas was: How to commit myself to the reconstruction and recreation of my own life and that of the earth?
Having come to the village in inner turmoil, i kept hearing a voice within that said: "Be still and know that I am God". The hushed silence at Ashankur helped me come into the presence of God on tip-toe, to experience a deep peace that is a divine gift. I stood free of everything that had enveloped me in personal darkness, and found myself in the presence of an all-pervading light, which could only be a sign from God.
ref: thetimesofindia
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