Solstice

On December 21st at 6:38pm (eastern standard time) the northern hemisphere experienced winter solstice. This is when the earth's tilt is the farthest it can possibly be from the sun. The situation itself causes the darkest day of each year. A few moments later the complete opposite begins to occur. It marks the beginning of the gradual increase towards the longest day of the year. Solstice is that exact moment between the two events. It is the precise "in-between" of the ending of one thing and the beginning of another. It is the pause. I propose that the holidays this year represented a winter solstice for our family...

Isn't it curious how natural events like this are written off by presumptions? It would be catastrophic if the earth were to tilt back any farther than it's perfected degree, yet the occurrence does not land a thought in our minds. One would even find it abnormal to worry about solstice. So we have this incident, which happens twice a year, that often goes unrecognized and is overshadowed by enormous assumptions. It is a phenomenon taken for granted.

I chose the metaphor of a winter solstice to explain the recent holidays, because our family indeed just went through the darkest days of the year. It was the first Christmas and New Year without our brother Patrick. He passed away on November 20th. Unlike the real winter solstice, subconscious presumptions in this case are not an option. They are replaced by a desperateness. Not desperate in the sense of hopelessness, but rather a dependency on God to tilt our axis back in the direction of the light. The recognition of dependency brings about a correct perspective for the solstice itself. Without the right understanding one would surely miss that the reversal of the tilted axis is proof of God's mercy.

So we have begun a new year without Patrick around. At this point we realize that we are in the thick of mourning and my family will not pretend that it is uncomplicated. It is the most difficult thing we have ever gone through. The sudden realizations to the situation are frightening. But here we stand at this solstice moment desperate for God to tilt our axis back towards the brightest day of the year. We rest in the truth that if God can position Earth at its perfect angle then we know in time he will do the same with our family...