As I write this, it’s Dec. 21. In some ways, the new year with its theme of possibility is the furthest thing from my mind and heart. And yet. And yet it is Dec. 21. It’s Solstice. One of my favorite times of the year. This is our shortest day in 2018. We will have 8 hours and 24 minutes of daylight and 15 hours and 36 minutes of darkness. We’re in the midst of the quiet and stillness of holy darkness. And in many ways a new year begins as the Earth shifts in relation to the sun and light begins to grow once again.
And so, even as I sit here in the midst of darkness, a new year begins. New possibilities arise. But the darkness and stillness invite me to a different relationship with possibility than the one I often think of with the new year. It invites us to opportunities, to changes, to journeys that are deeply rooted in our past and in the deep, dark holiness of our spirits. It invites us to the memory of a different kind of love. A love that is deep and rich and whole and held. It doesn’t sparkle. It embraces.
As the new year begins we will find ourselves, both individually and as a religious community, naturally turning towards more light, towards new possibilities, toward sparkly objects and flowering possibilities. This is good and true and as it should be as the world turns. But my prayer for me, for you, and for WUUC is this:
Precious, tender, embracing Spirit,
As the new year begins
Help us to always carry and embrace our past,
Our tenderness,
Each other’s tenderness,
Our wounds,
Each other’s wounds,
Our hopes,
Each other’s hopes,
With the enveloping and deeply rooted
Compassion,
Kindness,
Trust,
Grace, and
Love
That we have found in the warm embrace of the turning of the year
That we have found in Community, in You.
Help us allow this to be our source and our strength in this new year,
That we may love ourselves and each other every more truly
And have the courage to live Love ever more fiercely and fully into the world.
Blessed be and Amen.
Love and Blessings,
Rev. Diana