hallow the vespers

I realize that Lucia is still over a month away, but as I’ve been prepping for Sacred Space in December, I came across an excellent post by Kathryn over in the UK about Lucia (also known as St. Lucy’s Day), and this line from a poem she was quoting by Thomas Merton just leapt out at me:

“Hallow the vespers and December of our life, O martyred Lucy:
Console our solstice with your friendly day.”

St. Lucy’s Day, long ago, was celebrated on the winter solstice – the shortest and darkest day of the year.

“Console our solstice.”

I like that. I love winter, but sometimes in the dead of it when it’s been cold and bitterly windy and not snowy for so long, I am ready for it to be over. Consolation on those sorts of days? Appreciated.

That phrase, “Hallow the vespers,” has been kicking around in my head for quite a few days now. Vespers is traditionally a service at the end of the day where God’s people gather to tell stories about what God has been doing in their midst and to praise Him for it.

Vespers – a time of celebration and… closure.
December – signifying the end.

I’m sure Brother Thomas quite literally meant the end of our lives when he penned these lines, but I have been thinking, with the changing of the leaves and the gradual dying of summer, about the seasons in which we live our lives. I’ve seen several good seasons come to an end over the past few years – seasons of ministry, seasons of friendships, seasons of home, even… I’ve left church communities, friends, houses, jobs, and  towns behind as I’ve followed God’s call into new seasons and new communities, new friends, new jobs and new homes. Some of those goodbyes came hard, and seemed to take a long time to say. Others were easier and no surprise. Some of those goodbyes were permanent. Others have come back around in new and surprising twists of God’s providence and perfect plan. All of them have been, as a result of being in God’s will, good.

I’ve felt for awhile now that this October was going to be a significant month. I couldn’t have told you why, and I’m sure I still don’t see even half of it. I never heard it directly from the Lord, to my memory, tho I may have – it was just an impression: change is on the horizon, and I don’t know what it looks like. But there’s a sense now of closure and finality and ending to whatever this season I’ve been in has been, and I’m sad – and it’s good, and it’s right – both the ending, and the sadness. Winter solstice – the shortest and darkest day of the year. But on the far side of it, the days grow longer and warmer – and they could not get there if the solstice never happened.

So welcome, solstice of whatever season this is. And may the Vespers and December of my soul on this dark night be hallowed – made holy. In His Name, and for the sake of His glory. Amen.

photo courtesy of ©Depositphotos.com / UltraONE