The solstice.  Today,11:28a.m. EST, winter, in the Northern Hemisphere, "officially" begins.  Traditionally, the day of least light and most darkness, the winter solstice is the day, and night, on which time, or at least our perception of it, hinges.  It's the end of the light, yet its beginning, too. Though we lose the autumn, we win the spring, and though we wander through long and dark nights, we are also moving, ever so imperceptibly, to the greater light to come.
     In this is the rhythm of the world, the heartbeat of the universe:  the endless pulsing of the wisdom of God.  As we trek through these darker days and hours, we come to understand that the light we see is not just what we think it is, illumination and no more.  We see that light is rather the underlying message, the empowering song of all creation, a reflection of divine favor upon all that exists.
     So did Jesus say, in the eighth chapter of John, "I am the light of the world."
     Enjoy the day, enjoy the winter.  Enjoy the wonder of God.