David's Desk is my opportunity to share thoughts and tools for the spiritual journey. These letters are my personal insights and opinions and do not necessarily reflect the sentiments or thoughts of any other person in Lorian or of Lorian as a whole. If you wish to share this letter with others, please feel free to do so; however, the material is ©2019 by David Spangler. If you no longer wish to receive these letters, please let us know at info@Lorian.org.
First, I want to wish you a blessed, joyous, and wondrous celebration this month, whatever tradition or holiday you celebrate.
Second, I have a simple thought. Our lives are governed in many ways by our calendars, whether hanging on a wall or displayed on a computer screen. Each month has its particular identity and characteristics, none more so than December when the ancient rituals of acknowledging and celebrating the lengthening of daylight beginning on the winter solstice gave birth to the idea of the “return of the Light.” As if the Light of the Sacred that permeates and upholds all creation could ever go anywhere!
We know in our lives, though, that Light can seem to diminish. We all have periods of darkness, when sadness, depression, loss, despair, and fear seem to rise up within us and all around us. What the winter solstice—and all the celebrations of the birth and return of Light that arise from it—tells us is that this darkness is always temporary. The Light does return. Hope is never vanquished forever. Life and joy can emerge from the most seemingly bleak terrain. Throughout the year, this is what this calendar month reminds us: if the Light seems to go away, it will return. The days will brighten once again.
The calendar speaks to us of cycles, Summer to Winter, Spring to Fall, and back again. We order our lives according to these cycles.
My simple thought, though, is that each of us has an inner calendar, and this calendar has only one day on it: today. This day can be whatever we choose and are able to make of it. We can have a “winter solstice” every day, if we wish, a day in which the Light is reborn anew and afresh each morning. Everyday can be Christmas, or Thanksgiving, or any of the many other celebratory days that mark our various traditions. Our inner calendar says, “This day is yours. Make it what you will.”
The outer and inner calendars—one marking cycles and change, the other intent and creativity—complement each other. To use a quantum physics metaphor, they are the particle and the wave forms of the Light that runs through everything. To have a day that celebrates the birth or the return of Light into the world is a powerful event in its specificity; its vision can touch us in particular ways, focusing our attention and our lives upon the meaning of what that day represents. But to also know that every day is a day when Light is born or Light returns empowers us in each moment with the appreciation that we are co-creators of our lives, shapers of who we are and who we wish to become.
That’s my simple thought. No need to read long dissertations when there are celebrations to be had! Again, have a blessed and wonderful month. I’ll see you again in the New Year