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Did you happen to look out the window last week when snow flurries swirled around for an hour or so? I always get a thrill when the first flakes begin to fall. I'm no fan of the real thing, piling up on the ground, but fluffy snow in the wind is exhilarating. We've been so lucky with warm weather that it's come as a bit of a surprise to me that we enter Winter this coming week (Thursday the 21st at 10:27 PM to be exact). In days of yore, it was uncertain whether one's livestock or even one's family would survive the coldest months. And, for millennia, humans have developed stories and beliefs and rituals that bring light into the mysterious darkness of the longest nights of the year.
With the encroaching chill, I always think about the animals, many of whom seem not to migrate anymore, but somehow stick it out. I share a poem by beloved Mary Oliver that I think it captures some of the crispness and whimsy of Winter but also the inherent danger and long-haul accommodations that need to be made for the cold. See what you think!
White Eyes
Mary Oliver
In winter
all the singing is in
the tops of the trees
where the wind-bird
with its white eyes
shoves and pushes
among the branches.
Like any of us
he wants to go to sleep,
but he's restless—
he has an idea,
and slowly it unfolds
from under his beating wings
as long as he stays awake.
But his big, round music, after all,
is too breathy to last.
So, it's over.
In the pine-crown
he makes his nest,
he's done all he can.
I don't know the name of this bird,
I only imagine his glittering beak
tucked in a white wing
while the clouds—
which he has summoned
from the north—
which he has taught
to be mild, and silent—
thicken, and begin to fall
into the world below
like stars, or the feathers
of some unimaginable bird
that loves us,
that is asleep now, and silent—
that has turned itself
into snow.
How did you find yourself understanding the bird imagery of the poem?
I find moving the idea of clouds falling into the world like feathers ... what lines of the poem spoke most poignantly to you?
Is finding snow to be an expression of love surprising to you?
What winter memories does the poem bring up in you?
This Sunday we celebrate multiple traditions of light in the darkness with our annual Litany of Lights service of worship. And, afterward, we will have a Holiday Gift-Making Extravaganza in the Community Room—it's not too late to get some gifts accomplished before Christmas, Kwanzaa, and the end of 2023. I hope you will be present as we enter the longest nights together.
A reminder that on Sunday, December 24th, there will be no morning service. Christmas Eve celebrations will be held at 4:00 and 8:00 PM.
See you tomorrow for Tea Time and then again on Sunday.
Rev. Craig
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