We’ve had an amazing fall with warm weather and brilliant blue skies. Slowly we creep into winter as the temperature drops and days shorten. As we head toward our shortest day, December 21st, my resistance to chocolates and baking gets lower. I think I’m fuelling my body as it transitions into a colder and darker season.
Throughout human history, we have found ways to cope with seasonal transitions. We change our eating habits by stocking up on fat and sugar, put up lights against the darkness, and engage in different rituals. Winter solstice rituals are one way to acknowledge changes in physical seasons that are mirrored in our emotional and psychic seasons. In Christian tradition, a longest night service, sometimes called a “Blue Christmas” has given us a way to acknowledge a different dimension to our Christmas season. Amidst all the glitter of preparing for Christmas we cannot put aside feelings of grief, loss, depression, illness, and loneliness. Or, perhaps we are simply seeking a deeper meaning in the glitter of Christmas.
At Beach we are engaging in a “Longest Night: Service of Healing & Hope” on Wednesday, December 21st in St Aidan’s church at 7pm. Come and participate in a quiet reflective service that acknowledges places of hurt yet offers glimpses of hope. Only in our darkest night can we see the light most clearly.
Shalom, Abigail
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