Fading afternoon light
Pale and fleeting
Urgently beckons me
To a moment
That will never be again
But feels like it is just for me
It sounds an alarm
Not to frighten
But to remind me
That this is not an ordinary day
Nor an ordinary night
It is a day and night of mystery
When I need to remember
When I need to see
When I need to listen
A small holly tree
Calls me over to examine
Not the Christmas colors
Of red berries and green leaves
But the startling beauty
Of its bark
Injured and healed
With shapes that appear
Like curious faces
Watching at me with expressions
That seem to say
Take a look with your heart
With your soul
With your dreams
With your faith
Then the pine takes its turn and
Calls me over to see
What is there
Just for me to notice
The softness of its needles
The freshness of its scent
Closes my eyes and opens my ears
What I think is quiet
Becomes as soft whisper
From those who live within its branches
Look, they said to me. Look
So I do and
I see the shells
Of Autumn gifts
I gave to the birds of the woods
The meat of those nuts gone
The subtle beauty of cracked shells remains
As a message of gratitude
The birds of the pine want me to notice
In the fading day
As the night of mystery begins to ascend
I love the Winter Solstice day
Fast and fleeting
As if making way for what is the real focus
Of this annual time and space
I love the Winter Solstice night
When all seems still
In the crisp darkness
It is a night for lighting candles
It is a night for dreaming
It is a night to believe that
With the morrow comes hope
It is a night to ready my heart for Emmanuel
The Light that always shines in the
Dark places
Even when I have forgotten to look
And failed to see
Even when I doubt that this world can ever be saved
On this night
This annual event of mystery
Nature reminds me
That all things are possible
When the Light of Emmanuel shines
Especially through the darkest night of the year
Shall we look together
Shall we seek Emmanuel
God with us
In all the places of our lives
In all the places of our world
