Welcome to BarelyAware.org, and happy winter! Ok, for some, happiness during this time of year is a stretch, because the darkness and cold here in Michigan has come to stay for a while. With the recent cold snap, the reality of the season seems poignant. While the actual temperature is in the single digits, the apparent temperature is -15 or so with the wind chill. Today I went to work in the dark, stayed in a windowless room all day under fluorescent lights, and I drove home watching the sun set. It’s easy to think back six months to a sunny day that seemed to last forever into the evening and pine after the incomparable Michigan summer. Sadness, even depression, are more common now – seasonal affective disorder is the 50 cent diagnosis for the malady.

Yet the winter solstice also is the time that the Christian church associates with the birth of Jesus. No one really knows when he was really born, of course, because no written record of the date – or even the time of year – survives. But I would like to think that the winter solstice of the northern hemisphere was chosen because of the deep symbolism it conveys. A great being – a great light – was born into the world at the time of greatest darkness. When I drive home, the lights on the trees in town remind me, as do the green of the pine needles that seem unfazed by the dark and cold that drove the leaves off my maple trees months ago.

So how can we use the powerful symbolism of this time to understand and cultivate our inward growth? I am inspired by a story that Aaron tells during his time with Jeshua. They were children together. The full story is here, but I will summarize:

Aaron, as Nathaniel, age 13, was caring for Jeshua, age 9. They were tending sheep on a cold, rainy hillside. As the older responsible one, Nathaniel was trying unsuccessfully to get a spark and dry tinder so they could light a fire, cook, and stay warm. After an hour of shivering, Jeshua simply said “Nathaniel, just light the fire!” Nathaniel, hearing Jeshua on a deep level, was reminded how to connect with his essence and work with the elements on the inner plane to light the campfire. While it seems like magic to us, this method of generating a spark was a specific application of a skill taught to both children from a young age. While supernatural to our eyes, this technique is no different in principle from using an ordinary matchstick coated with phosphorus sesquisulfide, or a piezoelectric barbecue lighter. Both of these more modern methods would have appeared to be magical to Nathaniel and Jeshua. Each method simply relies on scientific laws that remain hidden to some.

Even at that age, Jeshua understood how to produce miracles, to peer with enhanced sight into the many, many futures that are possible, and select the one he wanted, the one that mostly closely mirrored the divine plan. At that rainy and cold moment, the divine plan – Jeshua’s plan – was to demonstrate to Nathaniel that anything is possible, that beliefs don’t have to limit you. Your ability to create the world you wish to live in is unbounded. Over 2000 years later, the teaching reverberates and resonates still. No matter what bliss we choose to follow, we have a responsibility to light our own inner fire. With careful tending, this fire will offer us light and heat without burning us. As the fire burns higher, others are attracted, and they are able to offer their own passions. The night is driven back, and connections and community begin to form.

The above theme seems to be a good way to announce barelyaware.org. Learning, teaching, and writing about spiritual topics is a passion of mine, one that I would like to share with you. Please come back regularly. As more new content is posted, and as I learn more about blogging basics, I hope that this is a place you want to visit.

Yes, the world is cold and dark right now, on several levels. But you have light and heat within you. Light that fire. Listen and follow the divine within you, and create the world you desire to see. This site is my attempt to do just that.