As I write this, it’s the shortest day of the year. Opening the curtains in the morning to let the sunshine in, I was met with a sun not rising until 7:24am. Even during the day the sun barely put a chink in the dense blanket of grey cloud and rain. The sun set at 5:12pm making for a dark and slippery trip home. But I don’t mind. It’s an excuse to snuggle up in woolly clothes and eat more chocolate. I like seasons and the sense of the earth turning. Terms ending and beginning again.
In my neighbourhood there will be theatrical fire shows happening this weekend in the streets and squares. I don’t know what spiritual messages surround the show but fire is deeply alluring in winter, even in a community attuned to the terror of fire in summer. Fires and firelight are recurrent themes across cultures and religions. Warmth, safety, nourishment, guidance, illumination …destruction, pain, punishment, danger. Fire is an ambiguous symbol and double-edged physical force. The tongues of flame of the Holy Spirit juxtaposed with the fires of hell.
Just to add to the two-sided nature of this world, in the northern hemisphere it’s the summer solstice. I once spent a summer solstice in Latvia where they stayed up all night dancing and singing around bonfires. Cold and dark here, warm and light there, fire here and there.
When life gets dark, finding things that seem definite, certain and fixed can be as alluring as fire. In practice we live amongst change, complexity and ambiguity. We muddle along in the joy and messiness of human relationships and life in this multifaceted world. We might try to buffer the uncertainty by our own efforts or earthly solutions, but we only have one certainty – our certainty in Christ, in Christ alone (Galatians). In the parable of the fig tree Jesus talks about certainty (Luke 21:29-38). The certainty of his love and his promise: ‘Heaven and earth will pass away, but my words will never pass away’. It’s more certain than the sun rising and setting.
As we turn the corner into longer days, I pray you find rest and rejuvenation over the holidays.