Winter Solstice Edition 2020, "Re-framing Darkness" (Rev. Carmen Retzlaff)
The December solstice is Winter Solstice in the Northern Hemisphere. It is the time of the year when we have the longest nights, the shortest days. It is reversed, of course, in the Southern Hemisphere, which is tilted closest to the sun on this day, near December 21. In the North, we have more darkness, in the South, shorter nights. This issue of AllCreation.org looks at the need for dark in our biosphere and for biodiversity: rest, rejuvenation, hibernation, moon cycles, the awareness of stars.
It is my pleasure to guest-edit this beautiful collection of seasonal reflections on nature, faith, and the dark. Our contributors have offered a table heavy-laden with beautiful gifts!
Two pastors offer a look at darkness through a womanist lens. We begin here, in this issue, looking back on this year of 2020: we begin with linking human diversity and our valuing of it, with how we value and love the biodiversity of our planet. The Rev. Kwame Pitts of Rochester NY, offers a re-framing of Blackness to counter prevalent Biblical and Christian narratives of darkness as bad, or evil. This piece leads our Winter Solstice 2020 issue. The Rev. Dr. Victoria Marie, pastor in Vancouver BC, adds to this thread a poetic and artistic reflection on the Virgen of Guadalupe, whose feast day is celebrated near the solstice, on December 12.
I also wanted to include in this issue the work of Dr. Barbara A. Holmes, “a spiritual teacher, activist, and scholar focused on African American spirituality, mysticism, cosmology and culture” (from her website), and her important book Race and the Cosmos (2nd ed.), which expands our collective view of the cosmos and community, science and society. Luckily, contemplative artist Vonda Drees has been working on visual reflections to accompany reading Race and the Cosmos, and she has allowed us to include some of them here, with quotes from the book.
Two wonderful book excerpts are included in this issue - they are gifts! First, by generous permission of the author and Paraclete Press, we bring you the entire Advent, Day 17 reading from the gorgeous Advent devotional by Gayle Boss, All Creation Waits: The Advent Mystery of New Beginnings. Enjoy! From author (and my longtime friend) Paul Bogard, we include excerpts on darkness and faith from The End of Night: Searching for Darkness in an Age of Artificial Light.
I’m also so very excited that two brilliant contemporary writers on faith and nature have contributed original work for this issue: the Rev. Ragan Sutterfield gives a glimpse of his current work on humus and humility, with a lovely piece on soil and darkness, and Lydia Wylie-Kellerman, editor of Geez Magazine, offers a poetic reflection on the existential healing and longing we experience in the night.
Finally, we have wonderful contributions from our core team: Chris Searles, Director of BioIntegrity, has written a reflection on cycles of life and the biosphere, including the importance of times of darkness. Amie Stone King offers a look at the different ways we perceive things in the dark. Chris is also editor and co-founder of AllCreation.org, and Amie is this issue’s copy-editor (thank you both!!). Rev. Dan DeLeon gives a current example of the care that must be taken with language of dark and light.
Our issue cover image, “Sagittarius” is by the Rev. Harold Vanicek, pastor of St. Peter’s Lutheran Chuch in Marble Falls, Texas. More of Pastor Vanicek’s images grace other pieces in this issue. His reflection on watching the night is included below.
Related to our themes of darkness and biodiversity, be sure to revisit the beautiful migration-focused reflection by the Rev. Sharolyn Browning from our past issue: “A Parable of the Kemp Ridley Sea Turtle.”
This collection on darkness draws us into this season of rest, reflection, waiting, and hope.
In quiet hope, Carmen Retzlaff
In this issue:
Reclaiming Blackness: The Treasures of Darkness, Rev. Kwame Pitts, Crossroads Lutheran Church, Rochester NY.
Cycles of Life, Chris Searles, Executive Director of BioIntegrity, delves into the significance of dark in this earthly biosphere.
Striped Skunk - An excerpt from All Creation Waits: The Advent Mystery of New Beginnings by Gayle Boss, with permission of Paraclete Press.
Our Lady(ies) of the Oppressed Rhyme, original poem and image by the Rev. Dr. Victoria Marie, Pastor of Our Lady of Guadalupe Tonantzin community, Vancouver B.C.
Some Sentences on Darkness and Dirt, by Rev. Ragan Sutterfield, Episcopal priest, Arkansas.
Excerpts from The End of Night: Searching for Darkness in an Age of Artificial Light, by Paul Bogard.
In the Darkness, A lyrical reflection by Lydia Wylie-Kellerman, editor of Geez Magazine.
Art based on “Race and the Cosmos” - by Vonda Drees, based on the book Race and the Cosmos, by Barbara A. Holmes.
What Darkness Reveals, by Amie Stone King (with photos).
Elevating Darkness, by Rev. Dan DeLeon
“Comet” - Harold Vanicek
“One of my favorite times of day is watching the sunset. It’s that time of day where the cosmic curtain slowly begins to draw open, like a stage curtain for a musical that is about to begin. The blue curtain of the sky makes way for the darkness with all its marvelous sparks of light. In the darkness, you begin to see the depth and detail of the heavenly stage God has lovingly set for all to see, wonder about, and enjoy. It is in the darkness, under a star filled sky, where I get my closest glimpse at how all things are woven and connected together, and of how I’m not just in the audience or a spectator…but part of God’s great cosmic musical of light and life for all creation.” - Rev. Harold Vanicek
