Last night was the Winter Solstice, and today begins the gradual increase of daylight. I have been reflecting this month on the undercurrent of spirituality in December that is more than just the social/commercial holiday of Christmas, or the Holy Days of the birth of Jesus. Archaeologically, there is evidence that humans celebrated the solstice as far back as the Neolithic period (10,000 to 3,000 BC). And the actual date of Jesus's birth is unknown, but many scholars and theologians agree it was not in winter, based on the references to events and seasonal activity in the Biblical stories. This year, Hanukkah, the Jewish festival of light, begins on December 25, as well. It changes dates because it is based on a lunar calendar, whereas the birth of Jesus was formally established during the Roman empire, coinciding with the Roman Winter Solstice celebration dated in the Julian Calendar, as December 25. There are lovely dimensions to this history, with the miraculous light of Hanukkah and the birth of Jesus as the "Light of the World."
My focus on the Solstice is simply the wonder of living it: Humans discovered this repeating pattern of sunlight that slowly lengthened, achieved a balance with night, then slowly shrank again to a brief balance, expanding long again, in seemingly solar inhalation and exhalation. Over time, they constructed an understanding of the cycle, and eventually developed a mathematical formula to calculate dates and angles of the sun that allowed them to precisely capture the sun's rays in temple ceremonies. Amazing! Yet my real point here, is that we are Living on this earth, in movement with the solar system and beyond. We live with and in the Solstice, and Hanukkah, and Christ, with and in the mysteries of Mohamed, of Krishna, of Buddha, Quan Yin, the Blessed Mother Mary, and so many more visions and stories. We live in a world of intelligence, in the human mind that can grasp not just the solstice formula, but so much more. Our knowledge can be used to dismiss the spiritual, or in deepening amazement, feed the mystery. The more we weigh and measure, the more questions we raise....questions of how and why. The solstice still feeds the mystery; and the mystery brings awareness of the Sacred.
So this week of incremental return of light, consider the Sacred. There is a paradox to exploring the Sacred. We think of the Sacred as that which needs care, spiritual respect or reverence, often with a fixed idea of how we handle and address the Sacred. Some protocol that must be followed. But the purpose and value of the Sacred is the FEELING it creates in us. We know the Sacred through the feeling. Do you feel the Sacred in Hanukkah? In the birth of Jesus? In the Solstice? This week consider what you name Sacred--objects, places, teachings, spiritual practice, or person, or the stars above. What and who is Sacred to you? What is the feeling called forth in you? Let your response deepen your inner life. Merry Christmas and Happy Hanukkah. (Susan Nettleton)
for poetry: https://allpoetry.com/.../14880598-Winter-Solstice-by...
https://www.poetry-chaikhana.com/.../WhenWorld/index.html
https://www.poetry-chaikhana.com/.../All.../Light/index.html