Really? Light in the Darkness? Hope in Grief? Beauty in Brokeness?

..... Maybe. Maybe. Maybe that's how Love shows up?

Now comes the longest night, 
                      the shortest light. 

Now comes the deepest darkness.
          and maybe it’s too dark. 
Now comes the thin thin ray of hope.
         and maybe it’s a shining morning, just beyond the far horizon. 

	
It’s happy holidays and merry Christmas, and Boxing Day 
                       and Kwanza and Hannukah and Bodhi, 
                         and all those others that I don’t know.

Oh, and also: wars and climate and elections and oil spills and 
                  viruses and guns and unaffordable prescriptions.

Oh, and also: puppies, and candles, 
                   and a text from the friend you were just thinking of,  and old movies, 
                               and the way an Amaryllis grows three inches overnight.

The yesterdays, the tomorrows. 
           All of it.

There’s so much, so much of so much. 
          All of it.

And, maybe, maybe maybe
           this is a hard season for you? 
 
Maybe you’ve lost a love, a hope, the dream of a dream?
           Maybe the light is dim?
And it seems like the whole world 
           is singing and celebrating as you ache alone in the dark?

It’s hard. 
It’s hard, I know.

Maybe words are inadequate?
Maybe I say too little, or too much?

Maybe silence says it all?
Maybe music softens the fall?

And this piercing pain, maybe it’s lovely too, 
            in that quiet way of  loveliness? 
In the “bleak mid-winter” stillness and waiting,
            as you stand resolute and ready?

Maybe you’ve seen a new glimmer of light? 
             New day, new possibilities? New dreams, even? 
                        And maybe it seems too good to be true?
          Maybe it’s only the “magic” of the season, 
                     Maybe too terrifying to hope, too soon?

Now comes the longest night, the shortest light. 
             Now comes the deepest darkness.
             And maybe it’s too dark. 
Now comes the thin thin ray of hope.
        And maybe there's a shining morning, just beyond the far horizon. 

And for some it’s full and festive with family and friends and hope 
              and for some it’s lonely and lost 
                          for some, the darkest of all. I know.

For some it’s shopping and singing
         For some it’s watching and waiting
                         For some it’s bright and busy
                         For some it’s dark and alone
                         For some it’s all unknown.

But – here’s my guess, and it’s only speculation –
                  (it’s my experience, i wonder if you know it too?)

This is a season that amplifies all of it.
                         All of it, all of it, all of it.

Maybe we seek the light more sincerely
       maybe we hold to hope more dearly

Maybe we miss the missing with burning tears
                                maybe we treasure the living 
                                             and cherish the years

Maybe the longing is longer
           the grieving is deeper
             the loving is sweeter
        the moments are richer

Now comes the longest night, the shortest light. 
                          Now comes the deepest darkness.
                                          And maybe it’s too dark. 
                  Now comes that thin thin ray of hope.
         And maybe there's a shining morning, 
                                   just beyond that far horizon?

Maybe maybe maybe
           the longest night will fade
the light will dawn and lengthen
    the hope will rise and sweeten

                           Maybe maybe maybe
             it’s about falling to our knees 
                                         surrendering 
to everything everything everything:
              the broken and the beautiful
           the mundane and the mystical
                 the simple, the spectacular
                                              the sacred

Maybe maybe maybe
       it’s about companioning:
             seeing one another 
             through eyes of grace
      Walking together 
                    into holier space
Struggling together
     through all of it, all of it, all of it
Maybe maybe maybe
     That's how Love shows up.

Maybe maybe maybe 
      we can be the ones 
             who reflect the Light?
Maybe maybe maybe
     we can be the ones who amplify the Love?