You probably noticed my new banner there at the top...Winter 2008, the season of light...
Since posting about Santa Lucia's day this weekend I've been thinking about how so many celebrations at this time of year focus on light. (You haven't even seen the posts I've written for hanukkah and solstice!) I've been thinking about how illogical it is to celebrate Christ's birth at a time of year when we know it could not have really happened (the facts about shepherding teach us that shepherds would have only been in the fields at night in spring or fall, and my own religion teaches that Jesus was born in April). Why then should we celebrate birth and life in winter rather than in spring? Because this is the season of light! All faiths (and non-faiths) seem to recognize that. When the sunlight wanes, we realize its strength, and rejoice in the knowledge of its return. We light candles and fires, and cling to one another in fellowship and love as we walk forward toward the increasing light.
In the dark winter of eternity--the time when we live apart from the One Light--we can cling to one another in fellowship and love, creating our own little lights to share, and walking foward toward the time when His Light will be seen by everyone, and when Lightness and Goodness will rule the universe.
3 comments:
Love this post!
The Christmas season is one of the major reasons I get through the dark Alaska winters with my sanity intact.
Incidentally, the sunrise in the photo is a winter solstice sunrise (at Newgrange in Ireland, where they have a famous passage tomb that lights up at winter solstice sunrise).
Beautiful! Thanks for sharing your inspiring thougths!
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