Tomorrow (December 21) will have the shortest hours of daylight, which occurs during winter solstice--the official start of winter.
Advent is happening as in years past, trees with leaves have all shed their leaves as usual and winter is coming as it did last year.
In the next few days, engaged as I am in the busy-ness and expectation of Christmas, I may not notice daylight starting earlier in the morning and lasting longer in the afternoon—signs of nature’s cycle.
This year, something besides preparation for Christmas may keep me from noticing the comfortable patterns of nature.
That is, I am also feeling loss and disorientation from the pandemic’s disruption of familiar norms. No handshake greetings, no hugs, no normal office, no large gatherings, no singing in church--I am missing all that.
Adjusting to, or simply tolerating, those losses day to day--all the while wanting things to get back to normal--may dull my awareness of how much around us has not changed.
The cycle of nature has not changed and neither has God’s love--I intend to be grateful for both.
