The wheel has turned once more and we find ourselves at Winter Solstice. The Yuletide is upon us. Actually, it is appropriate to acknowledge this concept of the wheel of the year since the word Yule means wheel. The wheel is a symbol of the continuity of life. Time is a circle, but more so it is in motion, an endless spinning wheel supported by the spokes of special moments ripe for honoring.Solstice means “sun stands still”…the sun rises and sets further and further south after June’s Summer Solstice. Nights grow longer and the daylight hours lessen. But on the Winter Solstice the sun stops this decline, as if it stands still just for an astronomical instant. Imagine -- a moment of stillness, a pregnant pause that holds the ultimate power, the power of possibility. What is born tonight is possibility…hope as symbolized by the light of sunrise that returns after a long winter’s night. And from the day after Winter Solstice onward the days grow longer and the hours of darkness diminish little by little, day by day.
What must tonight have been like in ancient times? Picture what a ray of hope sunrise must have meant after the darkest night. To celebrate that hope in the face of so much hardship, to believe in the possibility of a bright future, how much courage that must have taken. But then again, what would the alternative be, to live in dread, fear and gloom? No, the human spirit is not built that way, despite occasional evidence to the contrary. We are built for hope; we are designed to search out that faint glimmer, that light in the distance no matter how dim. So, our ancestors looked forward to tonight, greeting the lengthened darkness with merriment and joy as they clung to the hope that tomorrow always brings.
And so here, during the darkest moment, we too can gather to celebrate the return of light. But before we welcome this new light let us bid farewell to darkness in gratitude. For during this modern time we have many luxuries and the dark is not to be feared, better it is to be embraced. Within the fertile darkness resides the womb of transformation from which the light is born. Winter has its lessons to teach, it’s gifts to bestow. Like the silhouette of leafless trees, winter’s bare stark world can reveal the shape of things, exposing the delicate structure that might otherwise be overlooked.
Dreams are born of long nights such as these and the extra hours of darkness beckon us to explore that mystical interior landscape and dream deep. We need extended rest sometimes to feel nourished and revitalized, to thrive and be radiant as the sunrise. So, let us be grateful to the darkness for the gifts of stillness and tranquility. We shall be thankful for this time of contemplation and appreciate the gestational space for creativity. Creativity is the spark of life; it feeds and nourishes the “divine inner child” that resides within each of us. We need the time and retrospection that darkness affords. This long night is the sacred core of silence that exists within all the noise and revelry of the busy holiday season, it is from where peace, harmony and serenity comes forth.Ah, but after the long night of waiting, after that heavy silent stillness comes the rebirth of glorious, radiant, life-giving light! Hail and good morning Sun, and a Happy Birthday to you! Let us prepare to greet the growing light with joy, with the elation and anticipation used to greet our birthday with as children do. Let’s feed that inner child; let us be lighthearted in every sense of the word.
Light has many symbols, many qualities. Light can almost seem to inhabit a person and shine thru the translucent human form. Light rejuvenates us, heals us, envelopes us with warmth, delights us as it reflects and sparkles, inspires and dawns on us with clarity. Light penetrates the shadows, punctuates the velvet night sky of our spirit like a poetic star. It is light that gives us color and paints our universe with rich, varied hues. Energy is light, waves and particles in an intricate quantum dance, like fiber optic strands woven thru the web of life. Light is promise, it is that powerful possibility now fulfilled. Light is a gift. Light is an icon of eternal optimism; it is a symbol of faith and love. Light is hope.
The Solstice is a classic time for celebrating birth. Around the world, in varied cultures and throughout time, there are innumerable tales of a mythological sun child born during winter’s darkest moments. The common theme is that this precious new life is an emblem of hope in the world. We can, each one of us, give birth to such hope in a myriad of ways…. thru generosity, creativity, healing, teaching, and most important of all: we can be truly powerful forces of hope thru basic acts of compassion. When we give the gift of simple, genuine kindness we give the greatest most potent gift of all and we generate a light so bright it is astonishing. And here’s the most wonderful thing – light begets more light! The more you shine, the brighter you shine! The more kindness you emanate the more you create.
Tonight let us celebrate our individual gifts of light, what makes us each glow in our own special way. Everyone has a certain sparkle, a particular bright spot, EVERY ONE. Be a light generator, a beacon in the darkness, be luminescent, sparkle, shimmer and shine as only you can!
