The darkest days lead to new light.

In the Northern Hemisphere, the Winter Solstice marks the shortest time of daylight of the year, and then the sun begins to reveal more of itself in the days ahead. For ages this has been celebrated with feasting and the marking of a new year.

For Christians, who can pull back from the consumerism of the culture and era, these dark days of December are a time to reflect deeply on the themes of Advent that are also reflected in the season of darker days. A pregnant young women, Mary, depicted in the books of Luke and Matthew in the New Testament Bible, awaits the birth of the promised Savior, the Messiah of her people. Herein lies many conflicting emotions including faith and doubt, mystery and understanding, light and darkness, hope and fear, joy and sorrow and more.

Today, I share some of what the season's richness means to me as well as share three short and inspiring poems that speak to the obscurity of our inner world and the need to make preparations in the dark and persist nonetheless, for a time of new light in our hearts, that awaits us.

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