Merry Solstice?

No, I am not becoming a druid or forsaking the birth of our Savior.  I have always been fascinated by astronomical time and how we humans keep track of it since I was in second grade and saw a play trying to explain why we have leap years.  (Where did that extra time come from?)  The scientific age is ever-ready to explain all celestial phenomena, but there is an element of mystery that still eludes us.  The days are a bit more than 24 hours and the years are a bit more than 365 days long, but it all seems to work, so we make the adjustments we need to order our lives and carry on.

The element of mystery was obvious to our ancient ancestors. They understood the significance of tracking time to know how to order their lives and built temples to sun gods to acknowledge its importance.  It follows that feasts and festival would be established to celebrate such important occasions.  What better way to get through the longest night of the year if not with a big party?

Such traditions where in place long before Jesus was born and were continued long after (even today by some “modern” druids). Indeed, it is because of such festivals that we celebrate Christ’s birth at this time of year.  As I have mentioned before, Jesus was more than likely born in the spring time. One of the reasons that the “shepherds watched their flocks by night” was to assist ewes in the midst of lambing season, which is in spring.  When the early Church wanted a time to celebrate Christ’s birth, it was easier to appropriate an existing celebration that would not draw unwanted attention from the Romans or Jews, who outlawed Christian gatherings or worship.  They just changed why and how they celebrated, not when.

And yet, the when, with its inherent mystique, seems extremely appropriate as we contemplate the awesome mystery of Jesus’ birth. During the darkest time in the northern hemisphere, we celebrate the “Light of the World.”  As we mark the end of one calendar year and start another, Christians proclaim the start of the era of “God with us,” begun with Christ’s birth.  It all seems to work, so we make adjustments and continue the tradition of celebrating his birth on December 25th.  

I still find it fascinating that we know the winter solstice will be at 11:48 PM EST on December 21, 2015. We can quantify this occurrence to satisfy our need to order our lives, but we should still give thanks to God for the mystery of time and acknowledge that we don’t actually know the exact date of Jesus’ birth.  In some ways it is not important, save for the fact that it happened.  Perhaps that frees us to not focus on just one 24-hour period to celebrate the era of “God with us,” but remind ourselves that we need to live that reality every day. 

May the glorious mystery of Christ’s birth shine in your hearts today and always.


Merry Christmas,
Rev. Valerie+

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