Darkness to Light

My house is quiet as it’s early and everyone else is still asleep. It’s not all that cold this morning, but I decided to use the fireplace as a focal point for meditation. The fire just started talking with its sizzling, crackling, and popping. The little white lights on our holiday tree add to the peaceful feeling.

During this Season of Lights, we reflect on the growing darkness as we approach the time of Winter Solstice, the longest night of the year. In about a week, the days will begin to lengthen once again. This ongoing cycle reminds us that darkness is but “for a time.”

When the days grow colder and the nights longer, we tend to retreat inside and look forward to the warmth and new growth of the springtime. So it also is when our path or life journey has a shadow cast upon it. Things for me are a little dark right now and carry a great deal of uncertainty in many areas of my life. As I sit quietly this morning with a coffee mug warming my hands, the fire speaks of the need to let things burn out and fall away. The evergreen tree reminds me that life goes on.

Upon reflection, I know I need to allow the cycle of life and my current circumstances to follow their natural progression. Just as we can’t skip any of the seasons of the year, we can’t skip the seasons of our life’s journey. We need to take each day as it comes – doing the best that we can – and know that this, too, shall pass.

As the morning sun filters through my window and begins to drive away the shadows, I’ll grab another cup of coffee and start to navigate this day that has been given to me as best as I can. May you have the peace and courage to do the same.