The Longest Night ...

Tomorrow the days start getting longer, and nights grow shorter ... We've officially entered the season of Winter, and we begin moving our way towards Spring ...

Tonight as I walked around town I thought about the Longest Nights I've marked in recent years. While in ministry The Longest Night Service was among the most meaningful for me through Advent. We would invite folks to come and mark what some call a "Blue Christmas" wherein we acknowledge that in this season for some the losses darken the season and dim the light that many associate with the Holiday season.

Perhaps it was the dull ache that has settled in over recent weeks, or maybe it was the twinge of pain I felt walking past the vacant lot on Main Street where the Church Building once stood and I was simply overwhelmed by the cascade of losses that poured over me ... the church fire wasn't even the beginning of my losses ...

Whatever it was, I thought back over the December 21st of my past and I found myself smiling as I recalled on Longest Night in Bella Coola when a group of four grown men gathered around a table and played the Board Game "HeroQuest" pictured above.

I won't even begin to describe the game or how it is played. BUT, I will say it was lots and lots of fun. So much so, we began playing it regularly for over a year ... with beer, munchies and lots of laughter, we four continued to wage battles between a host of evil minions and our Heroes until our lives lead us away from the Bella Coola valley ...

I can honestly say that I have never had a circle of friendship like the group that encircled the tables in our respective homes while we played a silly Board Game.

Tonight I realized how much I would love to once again spend the Winter Solstice sitting around a table tossing dice and playing a board game with my circle of friends ... tonight I realized how much I miss them ... I can't think of a better way to heraldthe arrival of Winter and to fit the winter blahs that I have in a major way.

Tomorrow we draw closer to the resurrection that is SPRING!!!