One of my favorite carols is In the Bleak Mid-Winter by Christina Rossetti. I love the line,

“Snow has fallen, snow on snow,
Snow on snow,
in the bleak mid-winter
long ago.”

I am writing this with snow falling; it is peaceful. My canary, Easter, is watching his very first snowfall and is mesmerized. He even stopped eating an apple slice to pause and look. It is a magical beauty, and it feels like we should all stop and pay attention. Millions of flakes come to visit and not one is alike. Yet they all unite to create this majestic beauty. Can there be anything more important than receiving the gifts that are free from the universe?

This is the season when I am thankful for simple things. A call from an old friend, finding a new poem that I received in a holiday gift exchange with the AHA community, a Federal Express delivery women bracing against the snow to bring me a Christmas present.

We also gather for warmth around fires to watch the dancing flames. Our solstice celebration will be around a fire. Meister Eckhart, a 14th century mystic, had a good deal to say about gathering in this season. We all yearn to connect around the fire, to watch it dance, to ward off the cold. And as we watch the campfire, sparks leap upward, and we see them extinguish themselves. Eckhart says this is true for humans too; we must relinquish our egos and the concerns that can blind us. This is the only way that we can enter a higher state of consciousness. It is the only way that we can love deeply. It is the only way that we can really see each other.

This truth is part of the Sufi, Jewish, and Christian traditions. It is also part of the natural world. If the flame did not extinguish itself, there would be no forests. If the snow did not fall, Earth’s surface would not be regulated; and here in the Pacific Northwest, the melting snow fills our rivers and reservoirs.

What does this have to do with the holidays that we are celebrating?  Well, in this community we hold many traditions and they all hold beauty. And many of us come together to celebrate in the bleak mid-winter with song, food, and a sense of awe.

We are snow. We are fire. We need each other, especially in this time of deep mid-winter. May we stop and hold each other in joy and love.

Happy Hanukkah, Solstice, Christmas and all mid-winter celebrations, Kate