And The Old Year is Dying - A Reflection for the Coming New Year

And The Old Year Is Dying

And the old year is dying

As once more the sun stands still in the sky

Offering only darkness

Where once its golden light it spilled

And far below we watch with bated breath

Stoking our fires ever higher

Desperate for the year to turn again

The sun to resume its procession across the sky

Is this the year that will never be born?

Stuck forever in shadows and black of deepest night?

Keep your faithful watch in the hushed darkness

Listen for the whisper, the faintest promise of light

This is the time of year when it feels as though the whole world has stopped turning.  In the northern hemisphere for a few days after the Winter Solstice on December 21^st the sun appears to be standing still in the sky. This stillness used to fill our ancestors with fear and dread, as they needed the sun to start moving again so that it would return to warm the land once more, allowing their crops to grow and the animals they hunted to breed. They filled these days of darkness with festivals of light, building huge bonfires on hilltops, feasting and filling their homes with fragrant evergreens.

As we approach the end of yet another year, are you pleased with what you have achieved over the last twelve months, the steps you have taken along your spiritual path?  Are you working with love and the light to help usher in a wonderful new age of increased peace, tolerance and spirituality?

So as you are raising your glass to make a toast over this coming Christmas and New Year and making your resolutions, think of how you would like this coming New Year to unfold and choose accordingly.  For if our world is to be a peaceful one, each one of us needs to find that peace and serenity within ourselves and reflect it outwards.  If we want to help to usher in a new age of light, then we must expand that little spark of light that shines deep inside us, until the whole world is illuminated with peace and joy.

As the sun goes down every day, take a moment to pause. Reflect on all the things that you have experienced during that day and be thankful. Take some deep breaths and be at peace.