Winter Solstice at Stonehenge
As the Winter Solstice approaches, and the sun seems to stop and tread water before turning, it is easy to think that we are stuck in the present moment, when in truth, life is continually in transition. I’ll return to the cottage in January and notice that the sun is rising earlier and to the north, giving me longer sunlight days. And I will return to more silence, solitude and simplicity than I have here at home during the last two weeks of December.
During the holiday season I am particularly aware that some of us are living a life in which things keep changing all the time; we feel we have no silence, solitude or simplicity. On the other hand, there are people around us who have too much of the 3S's. For example, yesterday I spent the afternoon with a elderly woman who did not want to sit in the silence, all by herself, with simply too little to do. Then in the evening a group from church went caroling, visiting people, in ‘nursing homes’ and ‘at home’ situations that confine them to solitude, silence and simplicity beyond their choice.
Let’s admit it, it’s the choice that makes a big difference.
During the holiday season I am particularly aware that some of us are living a life in which things keep changing all the time; we feel we have no silence, solitude or simplicity. On the other hand, there are people around us who have too much of the 3S's. For example, yesterday I spent the afternoon with a elderly woman who did not want to sit in the silence, all by herself, with simply too little to do. Then in the evening a group from church went caroling, visiting people, in ‘nursing homes’ and ‘at home’ situations that confine them to solitude, silence and simplicity beyond their choice.
Let’s admit it, it’s the choice that makes a big difference.