There are times when everything seems cloaked in darkness.You long for the light but don’t know where to find it. But what if you are the light? —Elizabeth Gilbert
Tomorrow is Winter Solstice, a day to celebrate the reverence of winter. It’s also when—this year, anyway— we see Jupiter dance with the moon on the longest night of the year. How wondrously our world is made!
We usually associate the winter solstice with a mystical darkness. We turn inward and hunker down. But what if instead of seeking light from elsewhere, we bring the light? What if we are the light?
Author Elizabeth Gilbert challenges us with these questions. She once wrote that she had been desperately searching for happiness and an end to her suffering. Then one day she began wishing blessings on others. She found this quiet act forced her outside herself and instead into a concern for the people around her. She shared examples of a stranger giving away an extra ticket or the simple gesture of a bus driver. “This is how you find the light,” said Gilbert. “YOU BRING THE LIGHT.”
Gilbert wrote these articles almost a decade ago, yet their relevancy flows strong today.
“No matter who you are, or where you are, or how mundane or tough your situation may seem, I believe you can illuminate your world,” Gilbert wrote. “In fact, I believe this is the only way the world will ever be illuminated, one bright act of grace at a time, all the way to the river.”
My blessing to you today is taken from Gilbert’s. May you know happiness. May you be free from suffering. May God be with you.
Happy Solstice, dear people!
