In these last waning days of Advent and having just celebrated the Winter Solstice (Solstice comes from the Latin meaning "sun stands still"), we in the Northern Hemisphere experience the shortest days of the year. We experience the dark, cold, and desolation, which seems to last forever. However, as we get closer to Christmas, we know that the Sun will rise in the East, or is it "the Son will rise in the East?"

We look forward to Christmas and celebrating the birth of Jesus, and we look forward to Jesus' second coming. So in the meantime, we set out faces to the East like flint, waiting and longing for our beloved who comes leaping like a stag (Song of Songs). The lyrics of the song People, Look East by Marty Haugen speak about preparation and how the Earth lays fallow with the hope of the coming of our Savior who is the Light in our darkness and brings the hope of a New Spring!