As of this week, the light will be ever increasing. Tucked away in the cold of the first day of winter, we find the promise of spring! I'm no pantheist or wiccan - I am a believer in the good news of Jesus Christ, but every year, I celebrate the winter solstice - that shortest, darkest day of the year. It comes on December 21st, day before yesterday. It is the day when my part of the world silently changes from becoming dark earlier and earlier, to dark coming later and later...the sun setting later and later...a few more moments of light each day. I know the science behind it all, but to me it still is such a small miracle.
"And heaven, and heaven and nature sing!"
On the day of winter solstice, I feed the birds. It is a serene, centering ritual I've enjoyed for years. My thoughts linger over the love of a God who is aware of the sparrow. The birds need food in winter, and my soul needs nourishment, too. By His hand we all are fed. I quietly, in my own heart, think of the promise of spring and the faithfulness of a God who said, "While the earth remains, Seedtime and harvest, Cold and heat, Winter and summer, And day and night Shall not cease." (Gen. 8:22)
On the day of winter solstice, I feed the birds. It is a serene, centering ritual I've enjoyed for years. My thoughts linger over the love of a God who is aware of the sparrow. The birds need food in winter, and my soul needs nourishment, too. By His hand we all are fed. I quietly, in my own heart, think of the promise of spring and the faithfulness of a God who said, "While the earth remains, Seedtime and harvest, Cold and heat, Winter and summer, And day and night Shall not cease." (Gen. 8:22)
Winter. The season of light (yes! of light!) and bare, beautiful, sculptural branches. I want to bring these concepts into my home, after Christmas, to decorate a few corners and table tops temporarily. I will add touches of light and bare branches here and there. The ideas are still forming...ways to decorate with light itself, when the Christmas twinkle lights come down. I enjoy a home that celebrates the seasons.
I'll take pictures and blog them for you, once I figure this out and execute it. Any ideas? Please email me with them! I'm sure whatever I come up with, it will be beyond simple to do - because I don't do complicated or ostentatious.
Let us love this winter. We might not get to experience another one. Enjoy this one as though it were your first...or your last. There is no such thing as an ordinary season or an ordinary day.
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