Dec 21, 2016 is the shortest day of this year – the winter solstice.
It is also obviously the longest night. Some traditions mark this day as a day to remember loved ones who have passed away or to mourn or grieve hurts and abuses. Some traditions mark this day as one of the days of Advent, a time of preparation for the coming of Christmas, the birth of the Messiah.
Regardless of your tradition or your observance of the longest night of the year, the sun will rise on December 22 – or at least it has every year so far. It’s a good bet that whatever else may happen on December 22, the sun will indeed rise.
Sometimes that’s all the hope we get – the sun will rise again another day.
It takes very little faith to hope and believe that the sun will rise, doesn’t it? So perhaps we ought to consider other sources or reasons for hope to accompany the fact that the sun will rise.