By GRETCHEN MURRAY
Maybe it's because Daylight-Saving Time ended just a week or two before the first snowstorm of the season, but once we turned the clocks back on Nov. 2, the world plunged into darkness. Daylight savings one day -- depths of winter the next.
It might be why the lights of the season are so noticeable this year, not just the commercial lighting that lines the city streets but the season's religious celebrations that share the commonality of light.
In Christian, Jewish and some nature-based traditions, candles and lamps are symbols of spiritual enlightenment and the triumph over darkness, cold or loneliness.
Candles lit during Advent season, a time of preparation and planning leading up to Christmas, represent hope, joy, love and peace and also serve as a symbol of Jesus who brought God's spiritual light into the world. Christians also use candles to signify the Star of Bethlehem that guided the wise men to Jesus' birthplace on that first Christmas.
This year, Christmas falls in the middle of Hanukkah. The eight-day Jewish holiday is based on a lunar calendar and begins on Dec. 22.
Hanukkah celebrates God's glory and an ancient victory of the Jews over their enemies. During an occupation by Syrian soldiers in the second century, the Jewish temple was desecrated by soldiers. A fighting force of Jewish citizens reclaimed the temple. While restoring the menorah -- the holy lamp -- only enough oil was recovered to last one day, but the flame burned steadily for eight days, growing brighter each day. During Hanukkah, Jews light candles in the candelabra-style menorah and retell the story of the miracle.
With the two holidays coinciding this year, longtime friends and pastoral associates the Rev. Robin Long, pastor of Suttons Bay Congregational Church, and Rabbi Chava Bahle, a Jewish inspirational teacher and storyteller, are planning a special Celebration of the Season of Light at 7 p.m. Dec. 13 at the church, 218 W. Madison.
"The Reverend and the Rabbi," as they like to bill themselves, will present stories and songs in a shared celebration of Christian and Jewish traditions followed by a dessert reception.
"We will draw comparisons between Hanukkah and Advent and what is distinctive about each one," Long said.
Long said that Advent has long been considered a penitential season of preparation for the coming of the Christ child. In many churches, purple has been the liturgical color in Advent, but there has been a movement to return to a more ancient expression of liturgical colors with the color blue.
"It's because blue is the color of the night sky so if we're thinking about following the star through the sky on the journey to Bethlehem, let's do it within the context of the blueness of the night. The color of Hanukkah is blue as well," Long said.
Historically, the Christian holiday is actually more oriented toward the winter solstice. "There's no proof, no historical record that Jesus was born on Dec. 25, but there's some thinking that, as Christmas evolved over the centuries, people needed the story and celebration to get them through this particular time of the year," she said.
Long before the birth of Christ, the winter solstice has been a celebration of light observed by nature-based religions.
Jeffery Hawkins, of Williamsburg, is a member of the Order of Bards, Ovates and Druids of Sussex, England. He says that the winter solstice has been celebrated long before Christ's birth, and Christian ties are evident.
Druids observe the winter solstice on Dec. 21 by extinguishing the lights in the home and placing a large log in the fireplace that has been blessed and relit from the remnants of the old year's fire. A candle is lit from the new fire and druids go from room to room, lighting candles to illuminate the home.
Solstice in the druid tradition is the birth time of the Mabon, the Divine Child, Hawkins said in a e-mail interview. He explained that the Divine Child is part of the spirit or soul that is in us all.
"It is the Divine Child within that knows only perfect love and perfect trust and views the world with infinite possibilities. Each year at this time the light returns and rekindles the Mabon in us all and reminds us of our Divine nature," he said.
For Wiccans, including Harry Dorman, of Traverse City, the winter solstice or Yule marks the lengthening of days until spring. The solstice falls near Christmas and even the name "yule" has come to be associated with the Christmas holiday. In some traditions, a yule log burns on the night of solstice to symbolize the faith in the return of the sun.
According to Dorman, Wiccans adorn an altar with black and white candles symbolizing the old time of prevailing darkness and the rebirth of the sun's cycle of power in our hemisphere.
"During the Wiccan ritual, members give thanks to the previous season's harvest and we look forward to the unending cycle of life," he said.
December seems to be the logical time for celebrations for those living in the Northern Hemisphere who needed them to get through the long, dark days.
"The Advent candles represent hope, peace, joy and love. Those are universal principles that serve all people well. We need to know how those ideals are pursued in every organized religion, because they are -- and we tend to forget that," Long said.
For details about "The Reverend and the Rabbi's" Season of Light program, call 271-6036.
