Quiet

The days have shortened down to the solstice and now they have begun to lengthen again. I've been quiet, and so have my fellow parishioners.

At a time when nature leads us to our beds to rest and renew, our secular culture attempts to drive us into a frenzy of activity, burning the incandescent bulb at both ends. I've resisted that call.

We appear to have been napping, and we were. We've been following nature's imperative: resting, renewing, recuperating and gathering strength. We're there, just below the surface, listening.

In a few days "people in darkness will see a great light." In our gloom and shallow dream, we are joyfully anticipating this arrival.