Reflections on Winter Solstice 2020

In “Meet me in the Morning” Bob Dylan paraphrases Thomas Fuller, saying “…the darkest hour is right before the dawn.” The phrase contains a truth that is both simple and complex.

Like the old riddle, “how far into the forest can you go?” the smug literalist answer replies, “halfway” because after that you’re actually going *out* of the forest.

Though her rosy fingers are not yet seen, dawn is already in motion at the moment the sun moves past it’s nadir.

The placement of Christmas and other festivals of light just before or after the winter solstice has an implicit symbolism that is nearly universal to the human experience. The moment of change — the transition from old to new — happens long before that change becomes evident.

The solstice is that darkest hour. We will not see the fullness of the transition for months. In fact, it’s going to keep getting colder for a while.

We’re not out of the woods yet. But we’re finally more than halfway there.