I was in India for a month.   After a few days to recover from jet lag, I definitely noticed that the sun kept rising and setting at 6:30!    The year I lived in Yellowknife,   I sometimes forgot to go to bed in July because the sun was up nearly all the time.     Most of my life, though, I’ve spent at half-way.   In the summer, evenings are long and bright.   In the winter, the sun disappears in the afternoon.     Living in the middle means changes in the amount of sun light marks the seasons.

           In Canada, night noticeably creeps into day in October.  By December it starts getting dark around 4:30pm and the sun slowly appears again sometime after 7am.  As I’ve gotten older, I find myself really looking forward to the sparkle of holiday lights in December.   They break into the growing darkness with a reminder that the year is turning as it ought to.    Its no wonder that everywhere around the world people celebrate the solstice.    In winter we sing and make noise to drive the darkness away.  In summer we sing and dance to celebrate the light.    So my holidays now are a mix of various places and people   —all of us looking for light.

        In a world where darkness seems to be growing, may each of us find light to keep us living with hope,   –remembering, celebrating, praying and working to share our light where it is needed.