photo credit: gogoloopie
On the longest night of the year, we await the dawn.
The celebration of the Winter Solstice is the celebration of hope. In the darkness, we await light. We expect, anticipate, pray for, and believe in, that light.
Our human scientific knowledge has known for a very long time that the light would return. Certainly, by the time we were able to measure the astronomical phenomenon of solstice, we were able to understand that at the end of the longest night, the sun would rise. And yet, for all these centuries, we continue to await the dawn of the day after solstice, ending the longest night. Because it is not science that inspires us to believe the sun will rise. It is hope. It is the human spirit. It is our ability to look into the darkness and say “I see that light will come.”
I see that light will come.
“Yule” means “wheel.” We believe the wheel will turn. We believe that our dark nights will turn into bright dawns, and our cold winters will turn into warm springs. We believe.
It is faith itself we celebrate, lighting a single candle rather than cursing the darkness.
May your wheel turn. May your darkness end. May your dawn arise bright and glorious.
Blessed be.
