How can you find hope in a Christmas cookie?  I find hope in many moments of beauty in the world, but these fragile and beautiful and tasty moments are lifting me up again this season.

The cookies are made by Janet Link, a woman whose mother was friends with my mother and who I’ve had a distant friendly relationship with for many years.  Several years ago, I began seeing these astonishingly beautiful cookies that she made for the holiday season.  Each year I waited to be astounded by what she created.  Then, a year or maybe two ago, she shared a short reflection written by her friend,Hillary McMahan, who had received a cookie as a gift.  The words have stuck with me since, and when looking for sources of hope this season, I sought them out again.  Here they are:

“There is a lot wrong with the world on this day, and there are these cookies. Every year at this time, my friend Janet Link, conduit of universal generosity and intelligence, makes these cookies. And then. They get eaten. Eaten! With reverence, I’m sure, by most. Creation and destruction. Beauty, frailty, impermanence, as cookie. Last year I received one in the mail, boxed and carefully wrapped in bubble wrap. I gave it to my friend Armand, who had had a rough day. He ate the cookie, not before practically weeping over all it carried and contained. Not sure what my point is. Maybe something like…see destruction, respond with creation, acknowledge frailty, pass it on, let it in, appreciate, eat the cookie, amen, namaste, nam-myoho-renge-kyo.”

I’m taking my cue from Hillary for hope today.

• There is a lot wrong with the world on this day, and there are these cookies.
• There is a lot wrong with the world on this day, and there is sweet generosity.
• There is a lot wrong with the world on this day, and there is resistance to oppression.
• There is a lot wrong with the world on this day, and there is community that challenges and upholds.
• There is a lot wrong with the world on this day, and there is….

On this day, my hope arises from the interconnection of all there is, and trust that the web of all things is shaken and shaped by goodness, sweetness, wonder, justice, and love.

#31daysofhope

In hope and with sweetness,

Linda