One afternoon Jamie was playing in his backyard. He was riding a broom, pretending that it was a horse. He was having a wonderful time and rode the broom until it was getting dark. He left the broom on the back porch and went inside.
A while later, his mother noticed that the broom was missing. She asked Jamie, and he told her that he had left it on the porch. She then asked him to please go get it. The little boy protested saying that he was afraid of the dark and didn’t want to go outside to get it.
His mother said, “You know how I feel about you putting things away. You left it outside. I want you to go get it. Jamie honey, there is nothing to be afraid of on our porch. When you are afraid and have something you need to do, ask Jesus for help.”
“Is Jesus outside in the dark?” asked Jamie.
“Whenever and wherever you are scared and need his help, Jesus will be there for you. He will protect you in the dark.”
“Really?” Jamie asked. “Are you sure?”
His mother insisted that Jesus would help him whenever he was afraid.
Hesitant and with trepidation, Jamie moved slowly toward the door. He opened it, but only partially. Then he said: “Jesus? If you’re out there, would you please hand me the broom?”\
Fear of the dark has been with us through the ages. Like all fears, it can be traced to survival vs death. Most of us probably feel secure in having shelter and food for the winter. We probably feel secure in our assumption that at Solstice the hours of sunlight will begin getting longer again.
Even still, the shortness of the days impact us mentally and emotionally. And Pagans celebrate Solstice or Yule as our ancestors have for more than 10,000 years.
To more fully appreciate the power of Yule tradition, let’s imagine the insecurity our ancestors experienced thousands of years ago at this time of year. Our homo sapien ancestors survived the Ice Age. The Neanderthals did not. Our ancestors knew intimately the sting and danger of darkness and extreme cold.
Fast forward to the establishment of agricultural society. Survival became dependent upon the success of crops. That success was dependent upon longer hours of sunlight. It was a colossal achievement for humanity to predict the lengthening and shortening of the hours of daylight. What great cause for celebration it must have been when Solstice arrived, signaling that the sunlight would begin increasing again!
Not only Pagan traditions, but all religion is grounded in the awareness that our days are numbered. This fosters awe and respect for the rhythms and cycles of nature, and leads us to an awareness of being part of an order, connected to power greater than our own.
With sincere respect and appreciation for the many great religious traditions that emerged in the last five thousand years, I call Solstice the mother of all winter holidays. It was the original reason for the season.
I’m not marching into the culture war zone. I am not a literalist. The question of which religion is right seeming absurd to me. I see truth and treasure as well as falsehood and oppression in every religious tradition and in every human culture. We UUs have curiosity, respect and excitement that leads us to explore stories that have been held as sacred throughout history. We see great commonality across the diversity of religious traditions.
When Luke’s angel appears to shepherds in their fields, his first words were “Fear not!” This is what divine messengers tend to say. Wisdom traditions calm fears and cultivate wonder, and often look with wonder upon the vastness of the heavens. They beckon us beyond the limitations of our Earthly view to become aware of miracle and majesty of power and order that is greater than we can grasp. Today scientists measure tectonic shifts, trace the story of evolutionary, study the spectacular landscapes of biology, genetics, and physics. The power and the order of it all remains greater than humans can grasp.
Fear not! And tune in to an awesome unfolding.
The summer and winter solstices demonstrate the energies of yin and yang. The summer solstice, which marks the beginning of the fruitful season, also announces the start of the days of declining sunlight. The winter solstice, which marks the beginning of winter, also announces the start of the days of increasing sunlight.
Seasons are part of a cycle of death and rebirth. Something is always dying and something new is always being born. There are dangers and hardships in life. Every season brings opportunities, challenges, and pain.
After the fall season, the landscape appears more barren. Much life energy goes underground concentrating on roots. The roots do their thing so that new life will come again in spring.
Winter can shake us to our roots. When our flowers, fruit, and leaves fall, we may feel shaken up. The cold pushes us to seek shelter. We make our shelters cozy. We feel the spirit of hibernation. Spiritual wisdom tells us to go inside further, to gain awareness from within ourselves.
We also respond to cold by huddling together. When dangers or threats appear, as they do at the end of growing season, we remember our need for community. When it’s cold and dark, we build fires. We put up lights, and we have gatherings, parties, holiday concerts, events of all kinds, and we eat comfort foods. Christians do this. So do Jews, Buddhists, Hindus, Atheists, those spiritual but not religious, Indigenous people. We all do this.
Despite our efforts, isolation finds us. Standing in the cold, we remember the vulnerability of isolation. Pop songs tell us to go home for the holidays. Everywhere we hear messages that romance is what we really need. When our reality doesn’t match media ideals, we may experience deep pain.
Even relatively happily married people and those who have close loving families are not immune to heartache. There are ghosts of Christmases past, Solstices and Hanukahs past. We think of our dearly departed. We think of friends: old acquaintances shall not be forgotten. We may think of people from whom we are estranged. We grieve lost connection.
Even people who really love the holidays can sometimes feel great sadness. Depression and suicide peak in winter. If you find yourself struggling badly, I pray you will reach out! This congregation can be a source of wonderful support. Love abides with us. You matter here, and we can walk through this season together. There are also hotlines and warmlines. There are people eager to provide support.
In the spirit of Yin and Yan, this holiday is about long sometimes lonely nights, and its also about connection, and Earthly pleasures; hot drinks, tasty foods filling our bellies. Whatever winds swirl inside of you, whether you feel excitement of the holidays or wish you could skip them, please remember this community of embrace. We will be stoking curiosity and exploration of spirituality, creativity, symbols and sacred stories. We will be finding the holy and sacred in myriad ways; experiences of transcendence, spectacles of nature, and human creativity.
Reflecting further on the Yin and Yang symbol, remember the black dot in the middle of the white tear. Remember that the dark tear drop surrounds the light. These tell us to embrace the long, long night. These remind us that it’s okay to retreat into our hibernation caves. Humans do have a need for solitude!
If loneliness is feeling pain and regret about being alone, solitude is an experience of acceptance, curiosity, or willingness to see what we might find when we sit in temple of the spirit. We can seek and find the divine in solitude. We cultivate respect of the life force. When the parties end, even when we didn’t’ get invited, it can be a time to find sacred space inside ourselves.
Yule is associated with a blazing fire. Yule can also include appreciation of darkness and stillness. It could be spectacular. It can be scary or painful. What it won’t be is forever.
As always compassion will help us in this season, to meet ourselves wherever we are. Wouldn’t that be a wonderful gift? We can become curious about any emotion moving through us; be it a fiery blaze or a chilly stream. Compassion can transform isolation to become solitude!
I want to mention the experience known as the dark night of the soul. We all have memories, unresolved issues, defense mechanisms that helped us survive past trials and tribulations. Most of us go to great lengths to avoid ever feeling those feelings, reliving experiences from our worst times.
Solstice tells us that the darkest, longest night is the beginning of the sun’s ascent. Solstice invites us to embrace the dark. All the traditions, the bringing greenery inside, fire rituals, and celebrations are all done to help us realize that despite our fear of darkness and death, new light, new life is on its way. Darkness too shall pass. Life continues. When we die, we will live on in people’s memories. We will remain part of the great parade and dance known as life.
Even the darkest hour is fecund, pregnant with a new life that will arrive in the seasons ahead. Isolation carries gifts that will likely take time to reveal themselves.
The dark night of the soul comes when we get trapped in our identities and stories and can’t see or remember our inherent worth and dignity. This painful time can be an invitation to get real with ourselves.
My ministerial internship supervisor Bart Gould asked “how do we reconcile the notions of God as Love with God as Judge?” His answer was that “God is also truth.” When sacred story says we will face judgment, it means that we will get to recover hidden truths. Truth will set us free, although the journey to freedom might involve discarding falsehoods, aspects of our stories that have polluted the temple of our soul.
Birth and rebirth can be painful. We suffer when we hold on to our judgments, our inner condemnation. We have carried harmful and limiting beliefs. We have clung to identities such as the good mother, the competent professional, the gifted artist, or, conversely, the criminal, the inferior, the victim. Labels can never capture the fullness of our being. Our stories can’t hold the expanding life force that is in us.
The great reality, the great truth is that you are worthy of love as you are right now. The Buddha said, “you can search the entire world and never find another person who is more worthy of your love than you.”
Solstice tells us that when the longest dark night enfolds us, light is on its way. When we can’t find our way, when we are cold inside and it is easy to forget that up ahead, the light is returning.
The 13th century the Sufi poet Hafiz wrote:
“One day the sun admitted,
I am just a shadow.
I wish I could show you
The Infinite Incandescence
That has cast my brilliant image!
I wish I could show you,
When you are lonely or in darkness,
The astonishing Light
Of your own Being!
Solstice blessings be upon you: May you realize the power of darkness, trust in the returning light and have faith in divine unfolding now and forever more!”
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