Originally posted December 22, 2015

Today we celebrate The Winter Solstice, the shortest day and the longest night of the year, when the sun appears at its lowest altitude above the horizon and darkness abounds.

Winter Solstice has been celebrated with festivals of light since Neolithic times. The primary axis of Stonehenge, which could have been built as far back as 3000 BC, is aligned to point to the Winter Solstice sunset. Newgrange in Ireland, built around 3200 BC in the Neolithic period, is similarly aligned to point to the Winter Solstice sunrise.

Christmas has been the signature Winter Solstice celebration in the Western World for the past 2000 years.* Yeshua Ben Joseph (Hebrew equivalent to Jesus, son of Joseph), remembered as Jesus Christ, is whom Christmas is named after.

It is nearly impossible to think of Jesus without thinking of miracles.

The existence of the universe is itself a miracle. Why should anything ever have come into existence? How can something come out of nothing? Logically, all that should ever have existed is nothingness.

In our everyday lives there are many synchronicities — odd seemingly-meaningful coincidences — that occur more frequently than would seem the result of random chance. My book You Are The Universe: Imagine That includes reports of some of the miracles I have witnessed.

What is a miracle? We seem to think a miracle is something that does not usually happen. This season, let’s create small miracles by treating others as we’d like to be treated, and practicing forgiveness, seeing how we may just as righteously be judged as we may have judged the flaws of others: Let ye who is without sin cast the first stone… and Thou hypocrite, first take the log out of your own eye, and then you will see clearly to take the speck out of your brother’s eye.

Jesus emphasized that even our thoughts count. “As a man thinketh so shall he be.” I believe our thoughts, feelings, intuitions and perceptions, in a closed feedback loop, influence what subsequently happens in the matter-energy timespace universe.

As we celebrate the return of the light force, let’s adopt an attitude of awe and wonderment and celebrate all the miraculous.

Happy Holidays!

My best to you all,
Bill

*The Jewish holiday of Chanukah celebrates the miracle of the oil lasting eight days although there was only enough barely for one day (160 BC). Since the actual timing of Chanukah each year is based on both the Sun and Moon, its exact timing is not synchronous with the Winter Solstice.

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