The Lights of the Season
December 23rd, 2007
The Reverend Anne Felton Hines
I am afraid of the dark – though perhaps “afraid” is too strong a word. Let’s just say I avoid it whenever I can.
I like as little covering of my windows as possible during the day, and I sleep with my window blinds open at night, with numerous night-lights plugged in around the house. Whenever I stay at hotels, I try to get rooms on the upper floors so I can sleep with the curtains open there as well. I tell myself it’s so I can look out at the stars, but it’s really simply that I don’t want to sleep in a completely darkened room.
I like lots of light.
But it appears that I am not alone in this. Since ancient times, people have tried to create light amidst the darkness.
What is it about the light that draws us so? Fear of the dark, perhaps; but maybe the light symbolizes our hope and longing as well; our human quest that will not die. No matter how harsh the sounds around us, how cold the hearts, how dark the days…we cannot give up that light of hope that brings us comfort and the courage to persevere.
And this is the time of year – the season when the night is longest, and the skies most dark – that our world becomes brightly lit, with candles, and lights representing candles, and our religious traditions celebrate the triumph of love and light.
In the United States, we are most aware of the symbols for Christmas, and the stories of the prophet born so long ago. But the quest for light began long before the birth of Jesus – before there was even an understanding of the seasons, and the movement of the earth and the sun and the moon.
In ancient times, people saw the sun as simply a great ball of fire in the heavens, keeping them warm, giving life to all creation, bringing light to them after a night of darkness. Because of its many powers, the people believed the sun to be a god.
But when the days began to grow cold, and the darkness of night grew longer, the people became frightened. Their Sun-God must be dying, they reasoned. And if it died, so would their food, and so would they. Every winter, they lived with this fear of darkness and of death.
And so they began to enact rituals to persuade their Sun-God to return. They would light huge bonfires on hillsides, believing that if they imitated the god’s radiance, it would be encouraged back to health.
Eventually the people began understanding nature’s cycles; they learned that the days would always grow longer, that the cold would lift, and that the ball of fire – their Sun-God – would once again favor them with its warmth and brightness and life. And so they began to celebrate its return – beginning on the shortest day of the year, December 21st, from which time the length of the days would little by little increase. Dar Fisher led some of us this past Friday evening in a Yule Celebration to mark the Winter Solstice, and to welcome back the returning sun. It was quite lovely.
And I guess these people of long ago – the worshipers of Mother Earth and Father Sun – were not that much different from many of us today; they found any excuse they could for a good party. Not only did they continue to light their bonfires even after knowing the sun needed no coaxing, but now they celebrated by decorating the logs in their bonfires with ribbons and lights, or burning corn and maize and beans with it, as recognition of the nourishment received from the earth.
The symbols and stories of Winter Solstice were so powerful, that the early Christian church incorporated many of them into the stories and symbols of their Savior. Instead of being the “Sun-God,” Jesus became the “Son of God,” but also God – the “light of the world.”
I am proud to be part of a religious tradition that honors not only our Christian roots, but our ancient Pagan roots as well. And so today, I light a Sun-God candle, to remind us to keep faith that the light will return, and with it an abundance of love and goodness.
(LIGHT CANDLE)
*****
Another symbol probably originating in the early Pagan traditions, but now incorporated into Christianity, is the Advent Wreath –representing the four Sundays leading up to Christmas Day. Each Sunday, one of the four candles in the wreath is lit; in some traditions, a fifth candle in the center is lit on Christmas Eve or Christmas Day.
Different Christian traditions use different colors for the candles, and the precise meaning of each one differs. But according to an entry in Wikipedia, for many Christians the first candle is called the Candle of Hope; the second, the Candle of Peace; the third, the Candle of Love; the fourth, the Candle of Joy; and the fifth and final candle – which is usually white – represents Jesus himself.
The “underlying symbolism is the accumulation of light as an expression of the growing anticipation of the birth of Jesus Christ,…the ‘light of the world’….”
I have always viewed these four weeks of Advent as a time of anticipation and hope. It is when we hear the story of a young maiden, Mary, learning from the angel that she was to give birth to a child who could save the world – who would come to be known as the “Prince of Peace.” UU minister Robert Fulghum speaks of it as a time for quiet and “pondering,” – “pregnant with possibilities.” This is what the Advent Wreath symbolizes.
Our Advent Wreath this morning has ______ candles, and I light each one for Hope, Peace, Love and Joy. (If 5th: The center candle I light as a symbol of the light we all carry within us; may it shine brightly, and be a beacon for all people. OR: May their lights shine brightly as a beacon for all people.)
(LIGHT ADVENT WREATH)
*****
The lights of Hanukkah were lit early this year – beginning December 4th for eight nights. As you may remember, Hanukkah celebrates the victory of the Maccabees over the tyranny of the Greek emperor, and the miracle said to have occurred when the Maccabees re-claimed their destroyed temple, but found there was only enough oil to last one day. Yet with only that tiny amount of oil, their temple lamps burned for eight whole days, allowing them to repair and rededicate their sacred space. And so Jews around the world light one candle every night of Hanukkah in remembrance, until all eight are lit.
But I was told once by a rabbi that the real miracle of Hanukkah wasn’t the oil, but the idea that a tiny group of oppressed people had the courage and the stamina – what Martin Luther King might have called the audacity - to win the freedom to practice their religion. As the rabbi pointed out, were it not for that victory of the Maccabees, Judaism would have probably been snuffed out long ago.
Today there are still people who would snuff out beliefs that differ from theirs, along with the people who hold those beliefs. So this morning I wish to light the menorah again as a symbol of our commitment to keep the light of religious freedom alive – not only for Jews, but for Christians, Muslims, Hindus, Buddhists, Native Americans -- for all people of the earth.
(LIGHT MENORAH – USE SPECIAL CANDLE TO LIGHT!)
*****
This past October and November, Congress passed legislation that I suspect none of you heard about, I hadn’t: Senate Resolution 299, and House Resolution 747, recognized the “religious and historical significance of the festival of Diwali.” Passed unanimously, the resolutions recognized Diwali as a festival celebrated by Hindus, Jains and Sikhs.
This festival doesn’t actually occur in December, but rather in October or November (depending on the calendar used), and it’s one of the most important festivals in Hindu cultures – as important as Christmas is to Christians and probably just as significant to the merchants.
Diwali (or Deepawali) means “row of lights,” and people hang lanterns in their windows, or along their streets, during the several days of celebration.
The Hindu goddess of wealth, Lakshmi, is worshipped during this celebration, as well as Ganesha, the God of “auspicious beginnings;” lamps are lit in order to “welcome prosperity and wellbeing.”
There are several different stories that Diwali celebrates, depending on the particular Hindu sect. For our Sikh friends up the street from here, it celebrates the release from prison of the sixth guru, Guru Hargobind Ji, and 52 other princes, in the year 1619. According to the story, the Mughal Emperor had imprisoned Guru Hargobind and the other men because he was afraid of the Guru’s growing influence. The Emperor finally agreed to release Guru Hargobind, but the Guru then asked that the 52 other men also be released, to which the Emperor agreed – with the stipulation that only those who could hold onto his cloak tail would be allowed to leave the prison.
Guru Hargobind was clever, and made a cloak for the Emperor with 52 pieces of string hanging down, which allowed each prince to hold on and thereby leave the prison.
During the days of Diwali, people “clean up their homes, as metaphor of forgiving and forgetting misdeeds of the past and resolving to spend the coming year in peace, harmony, and purity….” According to one source, Diwali “symbolizes the victory of righteousness and the lifting of spiritual darkness; it is the celebration of good over evil, and the glory of light.”
And so I light a couple of candles to honor this very important holy day for our Hindu brothers and sisters. May the lights remind us to forgive ourselves and others, so that we may live in true peace and wholeness.
(LIGHT CANDLE “LANTERN”)
*****
And finally, back in 1965, my husband and I were newlyweds living near USC when violence broke out between L.A. Police department and African Americans living in Watts. It was a painful time, and soon after the violence ended, Dr. Maulana Karenga created a celebration called Kwanzaa.
His purpose, he said, was to re-install in his people the principles that had allowed their ancestors to endure slavery, oppression and racism in this country.
Kwanzaa is a seven-day celebration beginning on December 26th. Based on year-end harvest festivals in Africa, it honors a different principle each of the seven days, and a candle is lit each day and placed in the kinara. The seven principles celebrated are: unity; self-determination; collective work and responsibility; cooperative economics; a sense of purpose; creativity; and faith. And each principle relates not to the individual alone, but to the individual in the context of the larger community. Kwanzaa calls on African Americans to work together to strengthen their community.
I can’t help but wonder how different the world might be if all of us – no matter our race or nationality – were to practice these principles. And so I will light these Kwanzaa candles to remind us, as Unitarian Universalists of the importance of Community, and of our Principles which also call us to strive for a world where cooperation, creativity and faith lead us to peace.
(LIGHT CANDLES IN KINARA)
*****
When I see the light radiating from all these different traditions, I am no longer afraid. For they remind me that I am not alone in my hopes for goodness, for peace, for warmth and abundance for all. The dark night is only temporary, and there are always others nearby who carry those same dreams, and who will hold my hand as we work to make them real; they are in this very Sanctuary.
The lights illuminate our path, as we take the steps necessary to move our world from the darkness of war and despair, to the light of peace and healing. We take these steps not for ourselves alone. We take these steps for the sake of our children, and all the children of the world.
I close with these brief words offered by Dar at the end of our Yule Celebration Friday night: “…the lesson the Earth teaches us is that no matter how dark it gets, the light always returns. The night will always end, and a new day begin.”
And so it will be.
© 2008 Anne Felton Hines. All rights reserved.
