The light cometh

If you’ve been reading this blog for awhile you know that today is my favorite day of the year when, after the dark of the longest night, Earth turns toward the light. It is the completion of a circle of time, and a day to offer thanks for the remarkable blessings of seasonal change and the march of days.

The word light is a common word, defined as a noun, an adjective, and a verb. It’s used in so many ways that it clearly represents a human value; we constantly find ways to pronounce on the glory of light. Yes, it is illumination (daylight, sunlight, flashlight, fire), but it also represents understanding (this sheds new light), experts (luminaries, guiding lights), discovery (bring to light) and literally dozens of other uses and expressions.

I doubt President Zelenskyy planned his visit to the U.S. today to mark the winter solstice but it’s an apt, almost poetic decision. Zelenskyy is a man leading his country through the darkness of an evil and foolish war. He is praised for his leadership, and has become a leading light in the struggle to maintain democracy throughout the world. He also represents the remarkable fortitude and bravery of his country’s citizens, all of them beacons of light.

We have been through several long years of stress, illness, and general foreboding, so this turn to the light and the coming new year offers, again, a chance to move forward, closing the gaps that separate and define us and opening a door to understanding.

The approaching longer days will be more than welcome; their sunlight will gradually lift our spirits and warm the soil, waking the bulbs and other plants and coaxing them to bloom, while the trees sprout new leaves and lift their arms skyward. Standing below we will welcome their shade.

Tomorrow, across the country, we have dramatic low temperatures to deal with, along with snow, ice, and wind. That is the way of the world. But today, as the Earth rests and readies itself for another trip around the sun, we too can pause, rest, and celebrate the wonder; remembering that darkness too is necessary for growth, and that somewhere on our planet, always and ever, the sun is shining.