The Winter Solstice & Christ's Hope

 One: If I say, “Surely the darkness shall cover me, and the light about me become night

even the darkness is not dark to you; the night is bright as the day,

for darkness is as light to you.

All:       You are the light of the world; be light in our darkness, O Christ.

One : Blessed be you name, O God, forever.

You reveal deep and mysterious things;

You are light and in you is no darkness.

Our darkness is passing away,

already the true light is shining.

All: You are the light of the world; be light in our darkness, O Christ.

My graduating class from Emmanuel College in 1980 was about 40 souls, I think the largest before the steady decline in United Church seminaries across the country. This number meant that we tended to get to know a few of those classmates better than others for a variety of reasons. One guy, good-looking and athletic, was the quarterback for our touch football team which we dubbed The Converts (nuck, nuck). The two of us tossed the football around between games and talked. It turned out that he was probably the most "un-churched" candidate of the gang, but he was smart and felt a somewhat befuddled sense of call by God which became more focussed during the three years at seminary. 

After ordination he went to Cape Breton and I headed to Newfoundland and we largely lost touch for the better part of 40 years -- an auspicious biblical number. While serving his Cape Breton pastoral charge he met an American woman who was there on vacation and they decided to stay in touch. They fell in love, they decided to spend their lives together, and he moved to the States where he had a long career in chaplaincy for the aged.

Happy story, but three years ago I saw in some United Church forum that his wife had died and I found a way to reach out. She had developed dementia and entered into decline which resulted in her death. We have reestablished regular contact, including Zoom calls and it was been a pleasure. Except that his grief has been profound, and when I didn't hear from him for a while this Fall I reached out. It turned out that he had become deeply depressed to the point he checked himself into a hospital to address his mental pain and suicidal thoughts. I appreciated his honesty and encouraged him as best I could. I sent him a message this morning, 

This is a long-winded introduction to a reality of this time of year. For many it is painful to the point of being overwhelming and the relentless emphasis on joy and good cheer can have the opposite effect for some. Lots of congregation, including some I served, have offered services of worship on this day, the Winter Solstice, or close to it, to acknowledgment that sadness and grief are not signs of weakness but part of what life brings our way. Even though we may affirm God's love in the incarnation of Jesus, the Christ, when we love we will feel loss. And there has been so much bleak news this year on many fronts. 

Some congregations call them Blue Christmas services (sorry Elvis, I don't like that name) or Longest Night services. We called ours a Service of Healing and Hope. It may be that Christ-mass, the feast of the Birth of Christ, was tied to solstice celebrations.  

Even though we won't attend a worship service we were grateful this morning that the sun was shining and we got out for a solstice ramble along a river at a Conservation Area, and this was an opportunity to affirm life. 

Perhaps there is someone who would welcome a contact from you today as a way of sharing Christ's hope. 

                                                      Forest Festivities -- Jahna Vasht