“Gather friends and cast your hopes
Into the fire as it snows
And stare at God through the dark windows
Of the longest night
Of the year
A night that seems like a lifetime
If you're waiting for the sun
So why not sing to the nighttime
And the burning stars up above?
For deep in the stillness, deep in the cold
Deep in the darkness, a miner knows
That there is a diamond in the soul
Of the longest night
Of the year
Maybe peace hides in a storm
Maybe winter's heart is warm
And maybe light itself is born
In the longest night
In the longest night
Of the year “
~ Peter Mayer, The Longest Night
As is usual this time of year, each day has been fuller than
seems humanly possible and so I have not made it to my computer every day to
write. The lists seem to grow longer instead of shorter. One act that you
really want to accomplish leads to others that had not been anticipated. It
can, if we let it, lead us to feeling exhausted and sometimes even resentful.
Instead of recognizing that each little act of Christmas preparation can be a
gift to be opened, it is easy, at least for me, to go the ‘humbug’ route.
year, Winter Solstice and we have the opportunity to stop and be fully present
to the darkness. It is a celebration that calls us inward. At the peak of Advent, as we have been preparing for
the Light of the world, for the celebration of the birth of the Christ Child,
we get to experience the year's longest stretch of darkness. I believe it is a gift to
be savored for what it might offer us as Peter Mayer’s words imply. Who knows
what gift the darkness has to offer us?Who knows what our small act of light might bring?
Hanukkah. As one of our son’s friends said to me the other night:”Isn’t it
really cool that the first night of the Festival of Lights falls on the darkest
night of the year?” Yes, it is cool. As my Jewish friends tell the story of the
lamp that had only enough oil for one day but continued to burn for eight days
as they rededicated the Temple, they will celebrate the miracle of light in the
darkness. They will “gather friends and cast their hopes” for a world that
embraces the light that shines, miraculously, in the darkest of places. Three
days later Christians will gather and light candles as we sing “Silent Night”
praying that “peace hides in the storm”, declaring that “the people who have
walked in darkness have seen a great light.”
As humans it is our lot to live with both darkness and
light. Their rhythm is planted in the fabric of all Creation and we are born to wrestle with both. When the early
church placed the celebration of the birth of Jesus on December 25th it was
with the full knowledge of its proximity to the longest night of the year. And
so in these days, we will experience the ‘perfect storm’ of darkness. Our role
in this unfolding drama is to light our candle and to be witness to the
miracle.