The sun is shining,
but I added a wool blanket to my bedclothes
this winter morning.
Today’s a nipping day, a biting day;
In which one wants a shawl,
A veil, a cloak, and other wraps:
I cannot ope to everyone who taps,
And let the draughts come whistling thro’ my hall;
Come bounding and surrounding me,
Come buffeting, astounding me,
Nipping and clipping thro’ my wraps and all.
-Christina Rossetti
Last week it seemed that winter had just begun, but this evening a balmy wind blew in from I can’t imagine where, and made me think ahead to when actual winter will be over and gone. I offer this poem that makes reference to that point in the future, metaphorically:
A SHORT TESTAMENT
Whatever harm I may have done
In all my life in all your wide creation
If I cannot repair it
I beg you to repair it,
And then there are all the wounded
The poor the deaf the lonely and the old
Whom I have roughly dismissed
As if I were not one of them.
Where I have wronged them by it
And cannot make amends
I ask you
To comfort them to overflowing,
And where there are lives I may have withered around me,
Or lives of strangers far or near
That I’ve destroyed in blind complicity,
And if I cannot find them
Or have no way to serve them,
Remember them. I beg you to remember them
When winter is over
And all your unimaginable promises
Burst into song on death’s bare branches.
–Anne Porter
As part of our celebration of the Feast of the Presentation of Christ in the Temple, in the Orthodox Church we bless candles. Maybe some other Christian traditions still do this, as it is the ancient feast of Candlemas, and many cultures and nations have their many practices around it. I’d be interested to hear of any that linger among my readers’ communities.
As to candles, I found this helpful article from St. Gabriel Orthodox Church in Ashland, Oregon, about some of the symbolism in our use of of them, “handed down to us from St. Symeon of Thessaloniki (c. 1381–1429).”
1 – As the candle is pure (pure beeswax), so also should our hearts be pure.
2 – As the pure candle is supple (as opposed to the paraffin), so also should our souls be supple until we make it straight and firm in the Gospel.
3 – As the pure candle is derived from the pollen of a flower and has a sweet scent, so also should our souls have the sweet aroma of Divine Grace.
4 – As the candle, when it burns, mixes with and feeds the flame, so also we must struggle to achieve theosis.
5 – As the burning candle illuminates the darkness, so must the light of Christ within us shine before men that God’s name be glorified.
6 – As the candle gives its own light to illuminate a man in the darkness, so also must the light of the virtues, the light of love and peace, characterize a Christian. The wax that melts symbolizes the flame of our love for our fellow men.
So let us pray that the Light of Christ may illumine us as well!
Frost is forecast for next week, but today, this is what it looks like at my place. I’m picking early asparagus, and spotted two Christmas cactus blooms. It’s perfectly balmy. I should be taking advantage of the warmth outdoors to clean out the greenhouse and set up its heater for when winter descends again.
Gladsome Lights 
