Wishing You Light In Dark Times

The Gift of the Winter Solstice

Let’s face it, 2023 has been a brutal year.

Wars, climate change increasing natural disasters and environmental catastrophes, the ocean’s rising temperature and plastic contamination, the refugee and migration crisis, record high suicide rates among young people, increasing overdose deaths…
the list goes on and on.

And yet, everywhere we look we see impossible beauty. Every day dawning is a gift, each sunset an exquisite spectacle, one never to be duplicated. All around the world, there are gentle, warm-hearted people who would help a stranger, asking nothing in return. People do the right thing more often than not, but it’s just not newsworthy.

The constant inundation of bad news, coming at us from every conceivable outlet is skewing our perspective and stealing our joy. That said, even on the worst day, in every city in the world, there are giggling babies and talking parrots, grandmothers baking, nurses caring and teachers sharing. There are also librarians, who, in quiet, comfortable rooms, stand at the ready to help find the book that will change your life forever and for the better. Gardens grow, birds sing, rivers flow, forests rejuvenate and flowers are blossoming as I write, and you read these words. It’s utterly miraculous.

Joseph Campbell, renowned mythologist and author of Hero With A Thousand Faces, the definitive bible on comparative religion and vital history of mythology, once said;

“When we talk about settling the world’s problems, we’re barking up the wrong tree. The world is perfect. It’s a mess. It has always been a mess. We’re not going to change it. Our job is to straighten out our own lives.”

This pairing down of individual responsibility comes as a great relief, to me, anyway. Joe’s also famous for coining the phrase ‘follow your bliss’ which is very good advice indeed, as any fool can see it’s only the journey we have for certain, no destination, other than our grave, is promised. Trouble is, our idealization of the individual, and our goal of self-reliance belies the truth that, like it or not, we’re all in this together.

What better way to appreciate this fact than to experience the pandemic panic? Our oceans also reinforce the truth of our interdependence, as does the air we breathe. These facts inform our instinctive impulse to help others, and it’s this deep, primitive wisdom we each carry within that confirms; without each other, we would not survive.

On a subtle but undeniable level, what happens to any one of us happens to all of us. This is a bottomline reality of our human experience. The degree to which we’re able to tune in to this profundity is a prime indicator of our spiritual reach and grasp. The ability to see ourselves in all living things is the ultimate expression of a human being.

In this way, we find our purpose in life. Learning to notice where and when our spirit pulls us to engage is the work of a lifetime. We can do anything but we can’t do everything. Our bliss in experiencing life on this earthly plane stems from heeding the call to express our potential in all these basic and yet sophisticated, energetic ways.

Again, from our astute teacher Mr. Campbell:

“When the Buddha declares there is escape from sorrow, the escape is Nirvana, which is not a place, like heaven, but a psychological state of mind in which you are are released from desire and fear. And your life becomes harmonious, centered and affirmative. Even with suffering. The Buddhists speak of the bodhisattva - the one who knows immortality, yet voluntarily enters into the field of the fragmentation of time and participates willingly and joyfully in the sorrows of the world.”

While relatively few of us become enlightened, or even aspire to be free from the dual polarities of what we crave and what we avoid, we may still choose to participate with joy, and offer to help, ideally by asking what’s needed, rather than assuming we know.

Our own pain and loss, when transcended even partially, sheds light and alleviates the suffering of others. Humbled by our hurts, we find the patience necessary to listen to the stories of the brokenhearted, and in doing so, a symbiotic healing occurs, raising each of us up. Our innate empathy, imbued by the pure beauty of our vulnerability, seeds and waters the garden of hope for all humankind even as we witness the immeasurable misery of those of us trapped in war zones, of entire families fleeing imminent danger, of those self-medicating to escape, if only briefly, our earlier trauma.

“There but for the grace of God go I” is a maxim that resonates, even with atheists, as we’ve all known the arbitrary nature of misfortune. At this time of year, in this season of giving, and on this winter solstice, the longest night of the year, we’re reminded of our own ability to bring light to loved ones, as well as to the less fortunate among us.

We do each other a great service by refusing to despair, by noting all we have to be grateful for, and by believing in the possibility of healing, no matter the nature or depth of our wounds, even as we clearly see the state of our world, even as we sadly hear all the terrible news. This is how we walk each other home.

May the new year bring more joy, compassion and comfort for all who suffer.

May our Mother Earth heal with our renewed efforts to walk softly upon her.

May our hearts be open and our spirits elevated by the kindness we witness
and by our own divine impulse to share and to serve.

May you and your family and friends find peace and good will in this sacred season,
and may the light always find you, whenever darkness falls.