1434. On this cool, crisp morning, I arose before the sun and went out the front door to look for the newspaper…

But that’s not what caused me
to stop in my driveway, paper forgotten.
Overhead, the “Big Dipper” (Ursa Major)
and other stars twinkled brightly,
framed by thin, wind-shaped clouds.
Screen Shot 2017-12-22 at 8.13.18 PM.pngIn that moment, I felt magical,
caught by the wonder of nature,
blessed with beauty.
In this time of year
when children take center stage,
The thought of happy children reminded me
of the wisdom of innocence in all of us.
For it was not my intellect that caused me to look up
but my own innocence untarnished by age.
Like a child , I had no doubt that each moment
holds limitless awe, magic, and wonder,
and I knew how truly blessed we all are.
~Edited thoughts by my sadly
deceased, dear friend, Emily Seate|
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Let us remember that He has given us
the sun and the moon and the stars,
and the earth with it forests and
mountains and oceans–
and all that lives and moves upon them.
He has given us all green things and
everything that blossoms and bears fruit–
and all that we quarrel about
and all that we have misused–
and to save us from our own foolishness,
from all our sins, He came
down to earth and gave us Himself.
~Sigrid Undset

Who is this that appears like the dawn, fair as the moon, bright as the sun, majestic as the stars in procession? -Song of Solomon 6:10 ✝ (The Song of Solomon is often interpreted as an allegorical representation of the relationship of God and Israel, or for Christians, God and the Church or Christ and the human soul, as husband and wife.)

**Images found on the internet; superimposed photograph of the Big Dipper on  newspaper image done by Natalie

1433. Even though it’s the longest night, even though it’s the darkest night; there is always an odd excitement in the air. ~DD

This is the solstice, the still point
of the sun, its cusp and midnight;
the year’s threshold
and unlocking, where the past
lets go and becomes the future;
the place of caught breath, the door
of a vanished house left ajar
.
~Margaret Atwood

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Did you feel it? You know the tilt, the happenstance on which the earth titled to a position where the northern hemisphere is farthest away from the sun today, causing less light to reach part of the planet, the tilt that made this the shortest day of the year and will give us the longest night of the year. It was the Divinely ordained and sacred Winter Solstice tilt, the tilt that’s an annual event shrouded in ancient lore.

For ages the Winter Solstice was seen as a special and critical moment in the cycle of a year. From neolithic times the physical remains at New Grange and Stonehenge in the British Isles have attested to this because their primary axes seem to have been carefully aligned on a sight-line framing the winter solstice at sunrise in New Grange and at sunset in Stonehenge. Given that these earliest communities were not assured of living through the winter, the time of the solstice had to be marked because it was of maximum importance for which preparations had to be made during the previous nine months. Nowadays, for many, the shortest day of the year simply means that winter has arrived and for the next six months there will be a bit more daylight each day. For those who follow Jesus, the Christ, they know the solstice opens the doors on celebrations honoring His, the Messiah’s birth.

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Winter is
Awakening
The Solstice Sun is
Rising

The Heart of Nature
Is dreaming
Poems of Earth
Now sleeping

The Seasons are
Weaving
The journeys
Of Creation

The Seeds are
Quickening in
Mother Nature’s
Sacred Wing

~Edited poem by Victoria Pettella

He(God) made the moon to mark the seasons, and the sun knows when to go down. ~Psalm 104:19 ✝

**Images found on Pinterest; text on each added by Natalie