Our solstice candles
Toward the Light
by Ann Weems
Too often our answer to the darkness
Is not running toward Bethlehem
But running away….
Christmas Peace
Comes only when we turn and face the darkness.
Only then will we be able to see
the Light of the World.
The Winter Solstice is my high holiday. It marks the returning of the light, literally and figuratively. Now that I am in the third third of my life, now that my parents are gone and friends are dying, I have begun looking at the dark as a respite, as sanctuary from running. I have run much of my life – run away from loss and transition, fear and grief, run toward love and struggle, perfection and enough, and even run in place, hoping I was moving. This year, all of my running is winding down and for that I am grateful.
The Winter Solstice spans December 21-23, three long nights before the days begin to turn back to the sun. Today is gray with low clouds and rain. I am sitting still next to my tree – bedecked and blinking. A CD is playing a song sung by Luka Bloom.
Close your eyes
Listen to the rhythm
Open your heart now
Listen to the rhythm.
The rhythm of dark and light, day and night, summer and winter, life and death, struggle and transformation.
This year, I know many people grappling with the swings of life’s rhythm, including Paul’s mother in chronic pain, my musician children, and friends with cancer. I prefer the light, but I am learning that it is the dark that informs the light. The light, in turn, reveals the whole in a rhythm of song and silence.
I sit still and close my eyes, turning toward the dark. Slowly, I feel my heart beating, the rhythm of the blood pulsing around my body. I hear a wind-chime ringing a steady bell. I feel cool air on the backs of my hands and cheeks. The CD has stopped, but music is playing in my body. Another song, written by a friend, sings in my head.
To sit within the darkness
Quiet in the night
The light comes forth from you.
Let us revel and be merry in this dark time. Let us be wherever we are. We are the light of the world.
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