“For the return of the sun- blessings and praise!
For the gifts we give – and receive- blessings and praise!
For all the gift-givers – blessings and praise!
For the Children of Wonder- blessings and praise!
For children everywhere – blessings and praise!
For sunsets and starlight – blessings and praise!
For fabulous feast days – blessings and praise!
For those who cook them – blessings and praise!
For the tree in the corner – blessings and praise!
For the candles in the window – blessings and praise!
~John Matthews
The last few days have been filled with much activity and preparation, not only at church, but in our home, so much so that I have not been able to sit down to write in this space. It is that amazing time of the year when we move from the ordinary actions of our days and fill them with little moments of festivity, small and large actions of blessing and praise. We engage in traditions that have been handed down,in some cases,for generations. Some of these traditions we have even forgotten the ‘why’ of. We only know they are important to continue. Something deep inside us tells us so.
Two weeks ago, when we began moving furniture around in order to make room for the Christmas tree that now stands in the corner, I recognized how for a few days it seemed I was constantly moving one thing or another so there would be more order. At one point I laughed at myself. What do I think happens when you move a large tree into the house? Of course, things must be moved around! Of course, things must be jockeyed about until there is a new kind of order! It was important for me to remember that the evergreens we now call Christmas Trees were once brought into the house to remind humans that, though winter has descended brown all around,there is a life that continues on and, indeed, will come again. It only seems right that we might remember this, that we might make room for its wisdom, its presence in our midst.
And today, this day, is the shortest of the year, the night the longest. Winter Solstice. Around the world, in the northern hemisphere, people will celebrate and enact traditions that have been handed down by others they never knew. Many may have lost their original intention but the people gathering have that distinct knowing that they need to continue singing the songs, lighting the candles, telling the stories, honoring this recognition of light and darkness that comes to us all.
Now every morning when I get up, I come down stairs and the first thing I do is to turn on the lights on this amazing and beautiful tree that sits in our living room.I do it because it is such a blessed sight in the dark hours of early morning. I look at the way it shines forth from a corner of what is usually a fairly ordered living space, a corner that normally holds my reading chair. Its limbs hold a testament of our family’s life over 26 years. Ornaments of first Christmas celebrations and those to highlight the different interests and stages of our son’s lives. Some were created by their, then, much smaller hands. Others given as gifts, the givers remembered as they are hung on the prickly branches as if to further etch the memory of friends we may not see as often as we once did. It is truly a reminder of life lived, life renewed, the hope of life yet to be.
In these darkest days of the year, it is a good reminder and a beautiful one at that. And on this day of the Solstice, when we honor and celebrate the eternal rhythm of light and darkness, I am thankful for its steadfast wisdom that has caused me to move things around to make room for it, to embrace the beauty that arises out of chaos.
The story that grounds the Christian and Hebrew households begins with the Holy One sweeping over the formless chaos filled with darkness. Out of this God gave birth to light and we have ever since been held in the balance, the beautiful balance of light and dark. Today is a good day to remember this and to offer blessings and praise for the gifts of both. As generations have done for more years than we can imagine, let us declare that it is all very, very good.
Blessed Solstice!
