Reflection
Spiritual solstice M
any of our Christian celebrations dovetail with other religious observances of ancient times. I like the fact that the Christian story weaves through other narra-
tives and that other narratives have lent their voice to my spiritual heritage. I like it because, well, it’s a good reminder for me that
nothing is as pure as we make it out to be in this world. And would we want it to be? Take the solstice. Our winter solstice comes right before
the Christian celebration of Christmas—that is no acci- dent. The winter festival of the solstice was a time when the ancients would celebrate the fact that light would, at least for the next six months, outlast darkness. It made sense, therefore, for the early church to place the
celebration of Christ’s birth—the child of light, the bright and morning star, the sun of righteousness—at this festival time, giving it even greater meaning. Then the liturgical calendar did this other insightful and
amazing thing: it placed John the Baptist’s birthday in June, right around the summer solstice. John, who in the Gospel of Luke is said to be Jesus’ cousin,
is also known as “The Forerunner.” His famous statement “I must decrease so that he might increase …” is more than a mantra of humility for the one who is to point to the Holy One. It’s also a lovely thought to hold in our hearts and minds as we land on the summer solstice when slowly, surely, the light will ebb away and the darkness of night will slowly begin to take more of our 24-hour space. These two poles of nature’s rotation now coincide with
the two gospel poles of proclamation, with the two voices crying out: one in the wilderness and one in the manger. And it is a perfect reminder for people like me who love
symmetry that, when my life feels off-kilter, when my spirit has dried up, when my soul is parched, we are promised that even in the darkness we have light and that God will never allow the darkness to overshadow the light of life. Embracing that
deep truth provides the spiritual solstice for the Christ ian and gives life for any season.
Author bio: Brown is pastor of Luther Memorial Church of Chicago.
By Tim Brown
‘I must decrease so
that he might increase ….’
June 2015 23
©ISTOCK/JUNIOR_MCJ
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