Today is the winter solstice. It is said that it is the day the sun stands still. I like to think of this day that way. A pause. Time for quiet contemplation and silent gratitude. It seems like a good day to pray, even though I feel like I've been asking god for the world lately. Or perhaps it's that my prayers seem puny compared to what others are going through right now. Makes me wonder who can even work so many miracles, or whose arm's reach is wide enough to wrap around all that worry, pain and suffering. So today it seemed more appropriate to lighten the load on the Higher Ups. I put on my boots, grabbed hats and coats for my little ones and headed outside, the other place I go to pray. It seems that the natural world can hold me the way I long to be held at times and deliver answers for difficult questions and requests. Plus, it's instant gratification and where I feel most at home.
I paused and breathed in while focusing on the grassy eyelash sparkling with a sprinkling of snow-dust. I left wishes and good thoughts in the beauty of a frozen stream, its banks a warm green, proof that hope is alive. Birdsong played. The notes were strong and beautiful, yet I could only find two small birds among the branches. The trees, bare and cold, held tight to berries. If that isn't an answer.
The boys tossed chunks of ice on the frozen stream, every now and then shoving a piece into their mouths despite my telling them it was probably covered in fox and coyote pee. They simply could care less. And they are alive right here and now, and that is my blessing.
On this shortest day of light, I wish you much love.
