Solstice
Preparation
“We
cannot stop the winter or the summer from coming. We cannot stop the
spring or the fall or make them other than they are. They are gifts
from the universe that we cannot refuse. But we can choose what we
will contribute to life when each arrives.”
Gary
Zukav
Tomorrow
is the Winter Solstice; a day of relative darkness; the shortest day
of the year in the northern hemisphere. It marks the true beginning
of winter, but also celebrates that the light is returning. Beginning
tomorrow, daylight will increase by a mere minute at sunset for
seventeen days. By January 7, that increase will be two minutes, one
at sunrise, one at sunset, and from there, both speed up. It is at
the time of Epiphany (Jan. 6), then, that we finally begin to emerge
from winter's darkness.
We
are creatures who have long forgotten the natural cycles of daylight
and dark. With the invention of the electric light bulb, we left all
that behind. Now, we just flip the switch and keep going. But in
doing so, we cut ourselves off from the natural flow of time and season, and
miss the depth of experience we might otherwise have.
Barbara
Brown Taylor is an Episcopal priest, professor, author and
theologian, whose book, Learning to Walk in the Dark, gave me
a new appreciation for darkness, both within and without. She wrote:
“Even when light fades and darkness falls...God does not turn
the world over to some other deity. Even when you cannot see where
you are going and no one answers when you call, this is not
sufficient proof that you are alone.” We can learn to trust the
darkness that comes into our lives every bit as much as we trust the
light because,“Bidden or not, God is always present.” (C. G.
Jung)
Gary
Zukav, author of Seat of the Soul and
many other books, describes the Winter Solstice in these
terms: “The winter solstice has always been special to me as a
barren darkness that gives birth to a verdant future beyond
imagination, a time of pain and withdrawal that produces something
joyfully inconceivable, like a monarch butterfly masterfully
extricating itself from the confines of its cocoon, bursting forth
into unexpected glory.” Today,
we might contemplate the treasures we uncover during these dark winter days, and choose which of them we will bring into the light.
We
cannot have spring without winter, nor light without darkness. This
is the simple reality of life on planet earth. But we can trust God,
and expect with confidence that what we bring out of winter's
darkness into the new light of spring will be something good—perhaps,
even something “joyfully inconceivable!”
In
the Spirit,
Jane
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