Winter Solstice 2020: There Is Hope

I started my morning like most others, got up, made coffee, grabbed some toast, and went to sit down on the sofa to watch the sunrise but this morning I have to say, was incredibly powerful. I have a sense of awe most mornings as I look out my window to watch the sunrise over the trees but today’s sunrise in particular felt different. The sky was initially quite intense with steely gray clouds heavily bearing over a streak of golden light. But slowly, they started to dissipate and give forth a spectacular array of colors… vivid pink streaks shown against a purple backdrop; at the core, bursts of gold and orange, as the sun began to rise.

As I watched all of this happen I scrolled through my phone (as we do) and came across a post from Louie Giglio which read: winter solstice - my favorite day of the year. Starting tomorrow there will be more light than dark for six months. Reading those words and taking in the majesty of the sky before me, resonated with me in a powerful way.

For so many of us, 2020 has been one of the hardest years of our lives… there has been so much hurt, so much loss, so much darkness… and yet there is hope. There is light. That light was ushered in yesterday with winter solstice but it was also ushered in over 2,000 years ago when God sent His son, Jesus, down to Earth. He is Immanuel (God with us), our light, our peace. No matter what happens this year or moving forward into 2021, may we know that while we live in a world surrounded by darkness but there is hope. There is a light.