Wintering

As we approach mid-winter and the darkness gets deeper and longer I wonder if this is our opportunity for a bit more ‘staying with’, more bearing of the cycle of death and life, more awareness we can bring to this time of year as a reminder of what we like to forget; that just as the trees have to drop their leaves, it’s in the letting go and bearing of our nakedness that eventually new growth emerges? That there’s a crucial part for fallowness to play in our lives?

Can we tolerate our own inner darknesses, our sorrows, our not ‘knowing what we’re doing’ or ‘what it’s all about’, not knowing ‘the answers’? We have a profound forgetfulness every year of this season of losses and hibernation, we can sometimes only vaguely reach toward remembering that the days do lengthen, the light does return and re growth does occur..inevitably.

So in this wintering time as we edge towards trusting that the midwinters of every year eventually bring new life, may we stay with our fallow time, wait patiently in the not knowing and walk in hope that even if it’s just one single step after another single step the darkness always precedes the light and this and every winter retells us that story.