Winter Solstice

The winter solstice will take place on Tuesday, December 21 this year, and it is a perfect time to stop and take stock of the connection we share with each other and the natural world. Leading to the winter solstice, the days get shorter and the nights, longer. The 21^st day of December is the last date on which days shorten. The following day, there begins to be more light, and this will continue until the summer solstice in June.

For postal workers it is a time of high volumes and hard work as we connect the country. Given the work we do and high injury rates, we become the fallout of the drive for improved production and growth. Our society is built on winners and losers. We tempt fate and our very survival in our world of finite resources.

On solstice, with open hearts and minds we can learn from Indigenous peoples the significance and power of this day. Chippewa-Cree Sarah Sunshine Manning sees the acknowledgement of this day as a "decolonial act" and an opportunity to "reconnect to the natural world, sharpen our senses and access our most powerful selves".

It is a time to reflect on the past year, to go within ourselves to check on how we truly feel, and to give gratitude to the Earth.  It is a time to honour Nature with a ritual that allows for gratitude and thankfulness.  Communing with family, friends and community nurtures us.

We are encouraged to seek new understanding as we look toward the rebirth of the natural world. This mystery that is part of our universe, of life and consciousness, is one to which we are all connected no matter what our faith. 

We honour these connections by expanding our understanding of Earth’s cycles, and seeking creative ways to craft a future that is healthy for all humans, all creatures and all life.

A world out of balance causes humanity great pain. The world of profit accumulation, growth and destruction, bookended in a global gambling casino of high finance, is unsustainable.

During these troubled and worrisome times, we can renew our relationship with the Earth and with each other, in order to put an end to the violence imposed on people and this planet. One way to celebrate is by making gifts or purchasing gifts made by local artisans and craftspeople, rather than buying them from profit-driven corporations.

We can also feast, and try to eat locally sourced and seasonal food. We can make sure to have fire, by burning candles, in order to gain perspective and to warm us. We can burn what we want to leave behind emotionally in order to ignite rebirth. And we can mindfully formulate intentions for the new year that are steeped in wholesomeness, generosity, respect and compassion.

Greed and oppression are products of colonialism, capitalism and the patriarchy. Let’s do away with these losing ways, and instead, work to design and devise communities, work, and actions that help us and our planet to be healthy and whole.

In Solidarity,