The Graze V.140: What Matters Most?

Dear Friends:

"What matters most?”. This is a powerful question that arises out of the layers of the holidays and the anticipation of the new year. Unlike a 'resolution', it is a question we can ask at any time: What matters most for your future? What matters most in your community? What matters most to your own sense of well being? What matters most in this moment? What is it that gives you a sense of vitality, inspiration, calm and joy?

The Christmas story tells the radiant good news of what matters most. That God comes to lift up the lowly, to honor the unregistered, to privilege the unprivileged and to share the blessings of creation with all, In fact, Creation itself is an expression of what matters most! The Star of Bethlehem is a guiding light in this story.

Join our online discussion "What Star is This” with astrophysicist, Dr. George Spagna on Wednesday, January 4 at 6pm (ET). You can register here.

Henri Matisse, Dance (I), (1909). Image: Courtesy of the Museum of Modern Art.

This focus on the heart of meaning is clearly expressed in the art of Henri Matisse (whose birthday is December 31!) As a young adult just out of law school, as he was struggling with appendicitis, his mother gave him a box of paints — and he was overcome with a powerful sense of vocation. As he later put it: “From the moment I held the box of colors in my hands, I knew this was my life. I threw myself into it like a beast that plunges towards the thing it loves.”

He spoke of his exploration of color and space as “the newspaper of his soul.”

May your new year be filled with what matters most.

Lisa