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<!--StartFragment--><p class="MsoNormal" align="center" style="text-align: left;"><span style="color: rgb(51, 51, 51); ">About Solstice Prayers<o:p></o:p></span></p><p class="MsoNormal" align="center" style="text-align:center"><br></p>
<div class="MsoNormal"><span style="color: rgb(51, 51, 51); ">H</span><span style="color:#333333">ere in the northern hemisphere, this is the shortest day
of the year. Tonight is the longest time of darkness. We go into the darkness
knowing our brothers and sisters in the southern hemisphere are holding the
place of the longest day, the shortest night. Through present-moment
communication with those on the other side of the world we deepen our awareness
of a sacred wholeness, an interdependent balance, and the cycles of our
earth-home.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal"><span style="color:#333333">On this side of the globe,
celebrations are about the promise of the returning light- something that
doesn’t happen all at once, but gradually, a little more light each day from
this point on until the summer solstice. It’s a lesson in trust, patience and
the natural ebb and flow of life cycles- challenging realities for a culture
that often eagerly seeks permanent, instant, life-changing “enlightenment.”<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal"><span style="color:#333333">Oh, sometimes things do become
clear in an instant- but living full awareness is more about stretching into
holding what we know at the deepest level of our being. Today, perhaps a small
deepening of the perspective that allows for more kindness or patience than
yesterday. Tomorrow, a little more letting go of the illusion of control, a
modicum of increased clarity about what we can and cannot do in any given
moment. Tonight, perhaps the spontaneous arising of new gratitude and the
smallest expansion of compassion for even the ungrateful within and around us. <br>
<br>
Today- and especially tonight- I remember and hold in my prayers those aspects
of self and my fellow human beings who are experiencing a time of darkness that
makes the promise of the returning light feel like an empty daydream. For all
those who are feeling lost in the darkness, overwhelmed with loss, unsure of
their ability or willingness to continue. . . . may those individuals or
aspects of self lean a little into the faith of those who, in this moment,
remember and experience the promise of the returning light. For all those
sitting in the darkness of confusion and not-knowing, of grief or despair. . .
may they feel tonight that someone sits with them, holding in their hearts the
seemingly impossible promise of the growing light.<br>
<br>
And may we all find in the darkness a place of deep rest and rejuvenation, time
for clear dreaming for ourselves and our people that we may co-create a
sustainable and soul-full way to live together on this tiny planet we call
home. <o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal"><span style="color:#333333">Blessed be.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes"> </span><span style="mso-spacerun:
yes"> </span></span></div><div class="MsoNormal"><span style="color:#333333"><br></span></div><div class="MsoNormal"><span style="color:#333333"><span class="Apple-tab-span" style="white-space:pre"> </span>- Oriah Mountain Dreamer<span style="mso-spacerun:
yes"> </span><span style="mso-spacerun: yes"> </span></span></div>
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