It’s the second Monday morning in December, which means the school will be gathering shortly in the Festival Hall for it’s second Festival of Light Emerging assembly of the year. It is one of several holdings the students have a this time of year that allow them to live into the impusles that accompany the darkening days.

There is a busyness that’s easy to get enveloped in this time of year as parents and caregivers — a busyness driven by the desire to create joy for our loved ones and express our deepest gratitude. We can become swept up in the pressure to get it all ‘right,’ turning this busyness into overwhelm and making it difficult to find our own joy, which can feel elusive or lost altogether.

For our children, within these walls, things look quite different. This time of year is honored through a deepening practice of slowing down, quiet observation and reflection, and inward exploration. The darkening days provide the perfect canvas to journey inward, connect with the light that resides within, and bring it forward to illuminate the way for others. In this expression, we just might recognize the light in another as one we all share. This exploration of light begins with the Lantern Walk in the fall and continues through the Festival of Light Emerging, the Winter Spiral, and Santa Lucia.

Monday mornings in December begin with an all-school assembly honoring the Festival of Light Emerging. Our students join in a dimly lit Festival Hall where they are met with a familiar sequence of greetings, song, story, verse, and candle lighting — all wrapped in a dependable cloak of reverence. One student from each grade is tapped prior to the assembly to light a candle for their class. Starting with 12th and ending with 1st, they come to the stage one by one to light their candle from the same flame. This light then travels back to their classroom by way of their teacher, students following close behind.

This week, our students will walk the Winter Spiral. A pathway outlined in evergreens will form a spiral leading to a single candle lit at the center. Students will follow the spiral, unlit candle in hand, until they reach the light at the center, which they’ll use to light their own. On their path out — different from the one taken in — they will choose a place to set their now-lit candle, illuminating the way for those who follow. Although the spiral of carefully laid evergreens may appear unchanged, each individual’s journey within it will be distinctly different— inherently their own.

This Friday, each classroom will be visited by second graders, singing proudly and adorned in white tunics and handmade crowns. They’ll bring Santa Lucia buns to share, a symbol of light and hope. They’ll carry a mood of reverence, extending a gesture of generosity, and be met with gratitude.

These are experiences aligned with the rhythm of the natural world, which call us to pause, to embrace the quiet moments, and to hold space for the light we carry within and the light we see in others. For our children, their education includes a foundation in the lifelong practice of journeying inward and an intrinsic desire to share their discoveries with others.

It makes me wonder for us as adults – in our busyness to share light with others, are we bypassing our journey inward? If so, what is it that we are truly sharing?

Unfolding these experiences, both within the school and within our homes, is not without effort. Maybe more so at this time of year, it can be difficult to decipher meaningful effort from the simple busyness that fills our days. A question to consider might be if our efforts are drawing us toward connection within ourselves and with one another or pulling us away. While everyone’s journey is uniquely theirs to know, we can be respectful observers and provide one another grace for what cannot be seen. In the end, it’s not doing it ‘right’ that brings us closer, but rather how we feel when we are together.

In this shared space of reflection and grace, we create a community that is deeply rooted in presence and understanding. May we continue to walk this path together, embracing the beauty of the season and the peace that comes when we allow ourselves to be led by its natural rhythm.

Shared with us by Alexandra Wheatlake, Community Liaison