Welcome to Everything Speaks if You Listen with Jen CobbleWorks where we befriend our humanity and the Sacred through story, soul questions, and every day life.

In this week's episode, we talk about the winter solstice and its invitation to be still and to notice the restlessness within us, the stillness of what persists in our life that we wish would be over or would hurry up.

And from this dual approach to stillness, we're invited into a deeper stillness within, a kind of sacred sanctuary we hold in our beings as well as a feeling of being held in the womb of Spirit.

The winter light is lean and delicate. It is just over the horizon rather than overpoweringly overhead. In this image of winter light, we are invited to consider the Light of the World with similar vulnerability. Jesus is enfleshed, embodied, and incarnated as a babe: vulnerable, tender, dependent, and needing care, compassion, nourishment, and love.

What would it be like if we turned to our inner light as well as our most vulnerable parts of ourselves and treated them the same way we would treat a babe? What would we grow up to be if we met our innermost tender parts, the parts that STILL haven't grown up or healed, the parts we often get frustrated and harsh with, with ongoing love and compassion? What if the image of the Light of the World being vulnerable and fragile is just as sacred and powerful as the Light of the World being mighty? How would this seeing the Light in this new, thin winter light offer us an opportunity of greater self-love and love of others?

I'm Jen Cobble Willhoite, a contemplative storyteller, spiritual tool designer, and life-long soul seeker. My path is formed and framed by questions more than answers. I'm more comfortable wondering and wandering about things spiritual than I am in ideology, religion, or dogma.

My soul language and connection with Spirit is primarily grounded in Celtic Spirituality, science, nature, seasonal cycles, myth, folklore, and stories of all kinds. I do have roots in progressive Christianity that I sometimes speak from. My tap root, though, is ordinary life. I believe enlightenment is rhythmic, unfolding, and found in our everyday experiences and selves. I also offer tools and courses on my modern interpretation of the examen: a daily ritual of looking back, looking within, and looking ahead to cultivate a rapport with your inner wisdom and the Sacred as you understand it.

Every week, I share an episode from my own spiritual explorations, offering invitations for you to explore these themes on your own. Thanks for journeying with me!