The Winter Solstice of the Soul

The period between Thanksgiving and Christmas has taken on an unusual vibe for me over the past several years. Not bad, per se. Not would I say it’s a sad vibe. It’s just different. Allow me to explain.

The last time I saw my mother was the day after Thanksgiving, 2020. We made the trek to Arkansas and celebrated Thanksgiving with my parents, siblings, and a host of nieces and nephews. Little did I know that the “bye” we exchanged and the hug we shared the day after Thanksgiving would be the last in person meeting between us.

We spoke a few times in the weeks that followed. On December 8, 2020, we chatted about my dad’s latest diagnosis and the plan to have a port placed in his body a few days before Christmas so they could begin infusion treatments to treat his cancer a few days after Christmas.

Then, without warning or notice, my mother passed away. The date was December 16, 2020. I drove to Arkansas and, for the first time since I moved out of my childhood home in 1997, was not greeted at the door by my mother when I arrived late that night. I preached her funeral two days later and stayed with my dad for a few more days before returning to Milton.

On December 21, 2020, I woke up early. Mandy and the kids had returned to Florida. As the morning turned to afternoon, I found myself outside and noticed the sun’s descent that dotted the landscape of land that belongs to members of our family. I snapped the picture below.

If you know me, you know I’m a sucker for a sunset. But this one seemed a bit different. The sun seemed to be setting earlier than usual. I saved that picture and recently revisited it in my phone’s photo album. The picture was taken at 3:53 PM. The sun was setting before 4:00 PM!

Here’s something else people who know me know about me: While I’m a fan of sunsets, I’m not a fan of 4:00 PM sunsets. When DST ends, I can get a tad grumpy. I would rather the sun stay out until 8:00 PM, or even later. I spent a few days in Indianapolis in June of this year. The sun was still in the process of setting well after 9:00 PM! I almost became a Hoosier right then and there!

I later discovered that the reason the sun set so early on December 21, 2020, was because that was the date of 2020’s winter solstice. I’m sure you recall from school that the winter solstice is the day with the shortest period of daylight and boasts the longest “night” (aka, period of darkness) of the year. It’s the day when the sun is at its lowest daily maximum elevation in the sky. Daylight is short. Darkness is long.

This very day – today – is the winter solstice for 2024. Like its counterpart four years ago, December 21, 2024, will feature the shortest period of daylight and the longest period of darkness. For someone like me, who enjoys daylight and doesn’t care for darkness, the Ebenezer Scrooge comes to the surface, and I’m tempted to proclaim, “Bah humbug!” to the people I see during the whole 53 minutes of daylight we have today. *grin*

I didn’t realize the significance of December 21, 2020, when I originally posted that picture four years ago. In the few days after my mom’s passing, the Lord used that early sunset to remind me of a truth that I posted with the picture four years ago: “The sun may set today, but it will rise tomorrow.”

What I failed to realize at the time was that, while I was watching the sun set on the shortest day of the year, the next day would begin a process in which the sun would incrementally hang in the air above me just a little longer as future days passed. As we moved forward from December 21, 2020, the days would get longer and the nights would get shorter until we reached that blessed day in the spring when our clocks moved forward and we saw the sun a lot longer.

I know a lot of people who have experienced a “winter solstice” this year. In fulfilling my duties as a pastor, it seems that this year has been filled with some heavy “winter solstice” moments. More than usual. And it seems that the lingering effects of “winter solstice” moments from previous years are still impacting people in very real ways.

When I flip back through my calendar, I read of dozens of such days in the lives of the people I shepherd: meetings with families who are struggling with a child; meetings with a grieving spouse to plan a funeral; meetings with individuals who have lost their home; meetings with couples who are ready to give up on the vows they made x number of years ago; meetings with someone dealing with depression and despair; meetings with someone who unexpectedly lost their job. The list goes on and on.

For those who have experienced or maybe are experiencing a winter solstice of the soul, I hope you’ll find encouragement in this truth that God has built into creation. The shortest day of light in the year and the longest day of night are just that: A DAY. While the sun may set early today, it will rise tomorrow, and, quite literally, it will set just a bit later tomorrow than it does today. The next day will afford you just a little more sunshine, and a little more the next. Before you know it, those 3:53 PM sunsets will be 7:53 PM sunsets.

That will happen in our lives until, one day, we fulfill our purpose on this earth, and we’ll be ushered into the presence of God, where there is no more night and no need of light because God himself is the source of light. Between now and then, we may experience numerous winter solstice moments of the soul. As we do, remember that the sun may set today, but it will rise tomorrow.