Today's conjunction of Jupiter and Saturn, of the Winter Solstice, and of the approaching completion of another Christian season of Advent all put me in mind of these lines from Madeleine L'Engle.
Into the Darkest Hour
It was a time like this,war & tumult of war,
a horror in the air.
Hungry yawned the abyss –
and yet there came the star
and the child most wonderfully there.
It was a time like this
of fear & lust for power,
license & greed and blight –
and yet the Prince of bliss came into the darkest hour
in quiet & silent light. ...
I am fond of the Advent season. Waiting in joyful, disciplined hope for more light, for a better day, seems the most human of conditions.
But I also always wonder each December, what would Advent mean in the southern hemisphere, when the seasonal shift approaching would be mid-summer's longest day and shortest night?
Maybe if climate change is not mitigated, humans will have to learn to wait at the approach of summer solstice for a gradual waning of temperatures that threaten life itself?
No comments:
Post a Comment