Advent 2018 Week 1
“Inner Advent is a time of inner review and reflection. The soul reviews its thoughts, feelings, deeds and moral development as they occurred and unfolded during the year. Inner Advent brings the gift of a conscious closing to the soul’s year. Following this review, the soul is prepared to experience the miracle of rebirth and the gift of awakening to the new imaginations, new inspirations, and new intuitions for the coming year.” Lynn Jericho.
When I came across these words of Lynn’s I decided to use the activity of soul as a guide through the weeks of Advent. I looked deeply and intently into the activity of the soul when I wrote my book “I Connecting”. What stood out for me was that unless we understand our soul we couldn’t consciously engage with the activity of the I Am. Only when our I Am influences our feeling, thinking, and will in our soul can we engage with the spiritual activity of Imagination, Inspiration, and Intuition. This is our goal and this is the purpose of Christmas, which made the human I Am individually accessible for every human being.
Feeling
During this first week of Advent let us consider our feelings. Feelings are an inner activity whose movement links closely with our astral body. In the astral body, our feelings tend to be automatic and self-centred. As we refine them, they form a stronger association with our higher soul expression, and become linked with thinking and will in various ways.
In his seminal book “Philosophy of Freedom” Rudolf Steiner says, “Our feelings lead us back into ourselves making us individuals.” In contrast, our thinking unites us with the world. Through feeling we “withdraw into the confines of our own being.”
It is through feeling that we value ourselves, and consequently face the challenge of overvaluing ourselves. If we are too absorbed in our own feelings, we sever our connection with our environment and become insular, lacking empathy.
What really stands out is the opportunity to find the individual we truly are though becoming conscious of the activity of our feelings. This true individual will be expressed through our I Am when we engage with it more often.
Through this first week of Advent, we can observe our feelings closely to see if they isolate us or connect us. We can also remind ourselves that it is our responsibility to develop and educate our life of feeling.
Read more about this in “Philosophy of Freedom” Chapter 6 by Rudolf Steiner
Maria Walks by Mary Southard
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