From The Innkeepers

Welcoming the Arrival of Winter
A Blog for December 2021

Snow has now blanketed our earth. The lake and pond are softly frozen over-not safe for walking on as the temperatures have yet to be really cold, but there is this skim coat of ice that lets you know that the flowing this time of year is happening on the inside. So, it is with us as we turn inward with the season and parts of us go underground to search for fluidity in the darkness. This is the time of year when we must re-acquaint ourselves with the darkness and learn to thrive in it. This is the time of year when we need to reach out to winter as it welcomes us, rather than balking at the colder weather and longer darker nights. This is the time of year that we need to embrace the darkness so that we may become bringers of light. To that end, I would like to share a poem with you by Rainer Marie Rilke as translated by David Whyte.

YOU DARKNESS

You darkness from which I come,
I love you more than all the fires that fence out the world,
For the fire makes a circle for everyone,
So that no one sees you anymore.

But darkness holds it all, the shape and the flame,
the animal and myself
How it holds them,
All powers, all sight

And it is possible its great strength,
Is breaking into my body.

I have faith in the night.

So, let us have faith in the night. Let us welcome and learn to navigate the darkness of this world. On our longer and clear nights here in the woods, the dark sky is punctuated by the light of many stars. May you not only embrace the dark, but also through your generosity and kindness may you punctuate our world with the light that you are.

May you and all of your compassionate endeavors to pierce the darkness and become the light that the world so desperately needs, be generously blessed. We wish you and your loved ones a joyous holiday season.

In Gratitude for all that you are,
Marcia, Pat, and Sharon