Winter Solstice 2007: Dec 22, 6:08 am Universal Time
Be sure to adjust for your time zone:
EST: Dec 22, 1:08 am
CST: Dec 22, 12:08 am
MST: Dec 21, 11:08 pm
PST: Dec 21, 10:08 pm
You may be wondering why I am pointing this out in my Christian oriented blog. Solstice is usually either seen as a pagan holiday or an astronomical event. It is seen to be the first day of winter. I also see it as an interesting time to celebrate the birth of Christ. That during this time of darkness (at least for the northern hemisphere) the light of the world came into the world. The darkness is that more banished by His light. This imagery is pointed out to me by the candlelight service on Christmas Eve. It is really a strong and powerful thing to be in nothing but candlelight to celebrate the Savior's birth. We are in spiritual darkness. Christ is the light of our lives. It is neat to watch the candle light in the service going out from the Christ candle and going to all the candles in the congregation. Christ is the source of all light and we are to tell and spread that light. What a wonderful parallel between worship service and reality.
This play between light and dark comes back over Easter weekend. The Good Friday service gets slowly darken until totally dark at the end. The pascal light is taken out and brought back in to emphasize that Christ has died and has risen from the dead. At the Easter Vigil especially, the opposite happens. The service starts in darkness. The Christ Candle is the only light. The congregations candles are lit from there. During the service it slowly lightens until there is a explosion of light at the gospel reading. Christ is risen. He is risen indeed!
I just enjoy this wonderful imagery so much.
God Bless!
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