Greeting on this bitterly cold Solstice Morn in Wisconsin! This is a deeply Holy time for me, one who is not very religious but undeniably given to fits of spirituality at times. Usually when Nature unveils Her Beauty and Power and Mystery.
This Solstice I leave you with these words excerpted from a sermon given last December from a Unitarian Universalist minister, Reverend Susan Veronica Rak:
The Winter Solstice or Yule is a time of celebration and rebirth.
We reach the still-point, the shortest day, the longest night. And in
that brief moment, as the dark night stretches before us, we feel a
certain deepness. No amount of electrical power can breach that
profound yearning. Technology may have removed the mystery of
cold and deepening darkness. Yet still our hearts are stirred by these
connections to ancient practices and lore; the celebration of the
Solstice roots us in a tradition that goes deep into our bones.
Celebrating the Winter Solstice grounds us in our ancient roots.
There is sacredness in nature – not just the gauzily pretty idea of
“Mother Nature” all meek and mild, but nature in its constant cycle of
creation and destruction that brings us to this still point, this moment
to contemplate our place in the universe. And that may be a small
space, a blip on the great evolutionary timeline as we know it, just one
life in millions and millions.
Let us embrace the darkness and the possibility as we stand at
this still point, this turning of the year, we realize that in one small life
lies boundless potential, hidden life and growth and possibility.
We honor this moment, this turning, in each of us.
“Mark the time.
Respond with thought or prayer
or smile or grief,
Let nothing living slip between
the fingers of the mind,
For all of these are holy things
We will not, cannot, find again.”
Filed under: Religion, Unitarianism | Tagged: Pagan, Solstice, Unitarian Universalism | 3 Comments »
One Straw: Be The Change 
