Don't fear the dark

It has only been in the last few years living in the midwest that I've begun to understand these distinct things called seasons and what they have to offer our bodies, minds and spirits.  

As we begin to tuck in here for the coming winter, I find myself feeling a little darker than usual.  In the past, I might've fought these feelings, thinking I should resist this touch of death that casts a grey pallor over the land and all of God's creatures.  But this year, I begin to see that a connection with death, darkness and depression might just be part of the Christian life.  

As my friend Derran so eloquently put it in his blog entry on Death, Resurrection and Prayer, many of us (myself included) find it easy to ignore or at least quickly move past the horrific parts of the Christian story.  We pass over Christ's crucifixion and move straight to the salvation we have through his resurrection.  We forget that we who believe are 'crucified with Christ.'  We pass through death.  I don't think that means that we need to constantly dwell on death but I do think it means that death and silence are a part of our relationship with God.  

Winter is in some ways about this silence. 

Winter is muted colors, grey and white. Winter is full of the experience of death. Plants die and are covered with cold. We stare at them out our windows, trying to stay warm, longing to enjoy the walks we used to take in warmer weather.  We and the land are silenced, waiting for that first flash of green. 

We who doubt, who fear the moments when we are supposed to be full of the presence and voice of God but are left with silence and the muted colors, who feel darkness when we think we should be feeling light are not alone.  Winter is all around us, absorbing the great color and noise of life.  

Does this great season of death help us understand in small ways the feeling of despair in those days after Christ's death? Does it help us better rejoice when new life comes?  I hope so. 

I have become attached to a song by Scottish singer Emily Smith called Winter Song.  

My favorite line is: "I hear the old folk and the country people say/ Don’t fear the dark, nature has it all in hand/Time to reflect and renew the tired land."

Here are some of the lyrics:

The leaves are falling from the trees
Farewell for now warm summer breeze
Weather has been good this year
Now the winter will soon be here
The nights are drawing into shorter days
I hear the old folk and the country people say
Don’t fear the dark, nature has it all in hand
Time to reflect and renew the tired land

So we’ll stoke the fire and light the lamp
Turn our backs in from the damp
Settle down beneath the starry sky
Endure the winter passing by