Asking the Clergy: How do you bring light into your life on the shortest days of the year?

The shortest day and longest night of the year — the winter solstice — takes place Thursday. This week’s clergy discuss how they shine the light in a season that can cause symptoms of depression.

THE REV. GARY CHIN

Pastor, Grace Community Outreach Church, Hempstead

I’m not the type of person to get depressed. But as someone who brings the word of God to incarcerated inmates, I work with people who have no chance of parole and will most likely die in prison. Needless to say, they become very discouraged and depressed, especially during the holidays when they are not able to see their families. For many inmates, I’m the only visitor because their families have abandoned them. I speak Chinese as well as English, and so I also minister to Chinese immigrant inmates who have no parents in the United States. I bring light into my life all year by sharing the word of Jesus Christ, who came into my life when I arrived in this country from China. My job for the past 23 years as a minister to those in prison has been to give people hope and joy. When I teach and preach the word of God, especially during Christmastime, I see the light in other people’s faces as they begin to understand the message of our Lord, Jesus Christ. That makes me joyful even on the darkest days of the year.

RABBI JOSH DORSCH

Merrick Jewish Centre

It is no coincidence that Hanukkah, also known as the festival of lights, falls during the darkest time of the year. After we light the Hanukkah menorah, Jewish tradition teaches us that we are supposed to place it in the window, or in a public place, so that we can share that light with everyone who walks by. One of the ways that I bring light into my life and the life of others, is to gather together as a community, which we did many times in many different ways over the Hanukkah holiday. When we come together during the dark, cold days of winter, we warm ourselves and our spirits with the love, kindness and compassion of family and friends. Almost every Shabbat (Saturday) afternoon during winter, after sunset, one of our Hebrew school classes and their families are invited over to my home. We gather together in my backyard around a fire pit. We sing some songs, recite Havdalah (the concluding service for Shabbat) and make s’mores. Despite it being cold and dark outside, it is one of the highlights of my week.

THE REV. WILLIAM MCBRIDE

Religious director, Interfaith Community
Religious Education Program,
Brookville Multifaith Campus, Glen Head

Bringing light into the shortest days of the year takes a discipline of the spirit that often clashes with the demands of society. For example, how do you develop the discipline of waiting for light when commercials tell us that we can find immediate delight with a simple click? In “God Is in the Manger: Reflections on Advent and Christmas” (Westminster John Knox Press 2010), the pastor and theologian Dietrich Bonhoeffer wrote, “Waiting is an art that our impatient age has forgotten.” If we can learn how to develop patience as we search for light in times of darkness and disappointment, perhaps we can ignite sparks of hope that illuminate our spirit when days get darker and darker. The rituals of winter that challenge us to light Advent, Hanukkah, Kwanzaa or other candles are disciplines that challenge us to focus our spirits on lights that last. A key to the meaning of our celebrations of light is to be present to the people and places of light in our lives. I’ll close with a paraphrase of a popular verse used to help people weather the storms in their lives. I hope the words help develop the discipline necessary to bring light to your darkness: “Life isn’t waiting for the darkness to disappear. Life is learning how to discipline your spirit and dance in the darkness.”