If solstice occurs today --- at 4:23 p.m. CST according to the best information --- is the longest night behind us now, or in the immediate future? The former I hope; a more optimistic option.
Solstice offers: No solstice shrub to decorate; nature handles that. No particular need to be merry --- a quiet time, if you're a quiet person, to celebrate the manner in which our tiny home in an unquantifiable universe reignites the candle of hope naturally, reminding that spring will come again.
Christmas? Well, that's a bauble on the tree of life --- to be celebrated if you will. But the meaning is in the solstice.
Here's Solstice Prayer by Fr. Edward Hays (1931-2016), priest and mystic, who discovered the heart of the universe --- in Kansas.
The dark shadow of space leans over us…
We are mindful that the darkness of greed, exploitation, and hatred
also lengthens its shadow over our small planet Earth.
As our ancestors feared death and evil and all the dark powers of winter,
we fear that the darkness of war, discrimination, and selfishness
may doom us and our planet to an eternal winter.
May we find hope in the lights we have kindled on this sacred night,
hope in one another and in all who form the web-work of peace and justice that spans the world.
hope in one another and in all who form the web-work of peace and justice that spans the world.
In the heart of every person on this Earth
burns the spark of luminous goodness;
burns the spark of luminous goodness;
in no heart is there total darkness.
May we who have celebrated this winter solstice,
by our lives and service, by our prayers and love,
call forth from one another the light and the love
that is hidden in every heart.
Amen.
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