Let’s let light triumph over darkness
For many, this pandemic year has qualities like our universal end-of-year descent into darkness. Now at the end of a very dark year, advances in technology and science promise us light at the end of the COVID-19 tunnel.
We are at a time where light is triumphing over darkness. It is all around us. And it is hard to ignore during this time of the year.
But it is easy to be distracted! We are pulled by the prospect and the worry of what lies ahead. What is the new bad news of the day? The stresses and losses of 2020 weigh on us and are hard not to think about. But no matter what your spiritual persuasion, now is the time to consider and embrace the darkness that is for the light that will be.
It is the time to acknowledge our lives of plenty during Thanksgiving Day and Dhanu Sankrati. Stand up to the darkness on Diwali and through the eight days of Hannukah and gather with loved ones as we celebrate the birth of Muhammed, Bhagavat Gita, Jesus Christ, and the spiritual practices of Kwanzaa. There is a collective sigh when the nights start getting shorter on Winter
Solstice.
As it traditionally has been through the ages (millennia really), – through ritual, liturgy, or celebration - spiritual leaders call upon us these last two months of the year to take time for reflection, introspection, giving thanks, showing gratitude, and practicing faith. There are forces, universal for some, tied to religion for others, bringing us together in Divine unity. For the Eastern Orthodox faithful, this time starts with the Nativity Fast.
Unlike most Christians who celebrate Christmas and four Advent Sundays leading up to December 25th, Orthodox Christians commemorate the six Sundays of Advent which fall in the forty days of the Nativity Fast. Through November 15 to December 24, our observance is one of abstinence and penance, of fasting interspersed with special feast days, to purify both soul and body. The Nativity Fast is not as strict as Great Lent because fish, wine, and oil are permitted on certain feast days during the fast.
Because of its emphasis on repentance, Eastern
Orthodox Advent is a season of great seriousness. It is the time to proclaim and glorify the Incarnation of God and enter properly into and partake of the great spiritual reality of Christ’s Coming on Christmas. The liturgical services of the season set the stage for reflection and a refocusing of spiritual life. In fasting, we are drawn into humility. We find it in ourselves to forgive our enemies and we become keenly aware of our transgressions.
For nearly thirty years, I have called St. George Antiochian Orthodox Church in Danbury my spiritual family. As a convert and not a cradle Orthodox, it is the pageantry of the liturgy and the rituals that I relish. Over the decades, I found constancy and beauty in that observance and I learned much from it. I admire the elders of the church and the parishioners from the “old country” who accept that the liturgical seasons guide their lives.
But like any family, we can be all in at certain points in our lives and at other times, not so available and maybe we even lose touch. Sometimes, we grow so distant that the gap seems too wide and we might find ourselves in a place of dark disconnect that feels too deep to bridge.
For many, this pandemic year has qualities like our universal end-of-year descent into darkness. Now at the end of a very dark year, advances in technology and science promise us light at the end of the COVID-19 tunnel. I am now reconnected to my spiritual family more so than I have been in years because of virtual streaming. Sunday church services are once again a bright light in my week.
We have been reminded since March to take time to reflect, be thankful, show gratitude, and keep the faith during these dark days of Coronavirus. One of the bright lights of 2020 is that we are more prepared to listen to and embrace the annual call of our spiritual leaders during this time. As in any faith, when we listen and open our hearts to spiritual practices, we learn an ideal way of being among our fellow man.
All around, we are giving to those in need, checking in on neighbors, keeping our families’ spirits strong - hallmarks of not just the Christian faith but all faiths. These are actions rooted in love, the brightest light of all.
Andrea Gartner is the chair of the Danbury Democratic Party. She can be reached at Andrea4danbury@gmail.com, (203) 4708005 or St. George Antiochian Church, 125 Kohanza St. Danbury, CT 06811.