Do you remember this time last year when everyone was so anxious to say goodbye to 2019 and welcome in 2020 as a new year of hope and promise? To be fair 2020 did begin on a promising note for our family, as we welcomed Leighton, our second granddaughter, to the world on January 3rd. All too quickly this joy was crowded by the fears of a global pandemic, the anger of social injustice on full display, and the frustration of election year politics that in cumulative wreaked havoc with our psyche and turned friends and family into adversaries. Is there still hope to be found among us as we free fall into 2021? If we’re willing to pay attention, creation always shows us the way by organically demonstrating the natural order of things.

Monday, December 21st at 5:02 AM will mark the winter solstice – culminating in the longest night of the year and the beginning of winter in the Northern Hemisphere. We have records of the winter solstice being celebrated by mankind since the earliest of time. The ancient civilizations of Rome, Scandinavia, East Asia, India, and the Germanic people of Northern Europe all recognized the powerful symbolism of death and darkness giving way to life and light. Ancient observers took note that from the time of the solstice till three days following, the long nights seemingly remained completely unchanged in length until finally relinquishing it’s grip and giving over to the increasing dominance of the sun in preceding days. The Christian church used this powerful celestial event and its obvious symbolism to illustrate the incarnation of Jesus as the Light of the World, and determined to celebrate Immanuel’s birth in perpetuity three days from the solstice, on December 25th. In fact, many of our Christmas traditions trace their origins back to these so-called pagan rituals. The ancient Celts would all congregate on December 24th at the town center where the Great Tree stood. The villagers would decorate the community tree with fruit from the past harvest, and ignite fires to illuminate the sacred darkness that would in-turn lead to the rebirth of light and blessings on the agricultural season to come .

I come to this winter solstice with contemplation of the divine sacred that calls to me from my ancestors. I celebrate the light in the birth of Leighton and mourn the darkness in the loss of my brother. Yet my granddaughter Ella calls out to me from her mother’s womb to declare that the sun is still here. Soon she will push through the darkness of her cocoon into her own light. I ponder the Great Tree in my living room that is adorned with lights that shine brightest when the room is darkened. The tiny lights illuminate the ornaments of Christmas past and present and remind me to remain grateful for all that has transpired. For what is unprecedented in this generation is not unique in history. Day leads to night and then surrenders itself back to day. Life travels each of us to a point of death, but our destination is always onward to new life.

One of my earliest Christmas memories is one that is rationally dismissed by the few who have heard its telling. As a child my parents would allow us to wake up on Christmas morning well before the sun came up to see what Santa had brought us. On this particular Christmas morning after all the presents had been opened I stepped out onto our front porch and looked up into the night sky and saw what I recognized as the Christmas Star. It had the size, shape, and brightness of every story book version of the beacon that guided the wise men to the Bethlehem manger. Maybe what I experienced was nothing more than a plane or perhaps just an overactive imagination, but to a young boy already looking heavenward for something more to believe in, it was as real as it was profound.

The Winter Solstice of 2020 also marks the first time in 800+ years that Jupiter and Saturn will align (conjunction) so closely together that it will appear visually as the “Star of Bethlehem”. All can marvel with me at the wonder of this heavenly phenomenon, but can we also open our eyes and hearts to the greater story that is being revealed to humanity? Creation is the mirror that reflects back to us our true essence and reminds us that as we anxiously wait for the sun to once again shine on us, our purpose is to illuminate the darkness.

Silent night, holy night. All is calm, all is bright.

*See the insights of Alexander John Shaia on Christmas