Solstice 11s
1. It does. It will.
2. This simple, unwavering fact. Truth. Faith or authority?
3. How the poet reassures us – it does, it will. A steady hand placed on a shoulder.
4. I want to add to her lines something else, something like, but don't take my word for it.
5. I would say, it does, it will, but you don't have to believe me. You only have to watch, watch the way the plants turn their leaves toward the light. How they bend and lean.
6. And listen. Listen to the sounds change so imperceptibly you might not notice anything is happening at all. Move that slowly.
7. To the dark, I offer my gratitude. I offer a shehecheyanu, the blessing for first times. For today, today is the first solstice of its kind, the first 12/21/22 ever. We made it, and we can be made new, without even trying. "Blessed are you, creator and source of all life, who has kept us alive, sustained us, and brought us to this time."
8. Stillness, standstill. Not the same as stagnant, stuck. Instead, balance, the moment before tipping
9. Tipping toward the light. A cup pouring out its darkness.
10. To bend towards faith, to lean towards light, I must stay grounded, feet never leaving the ground.
11. With or without me, the light returns.
Read the Jan Richardson poem here.
“I cannot tell you
how the light comes,
but that it does.
That it will.”