Winter Solstice*Holy One of the turning earth,we watch the daily pilgrimage of the sunas its journey grows shorter and shorter.Bears, bats, and hedgehogs restwhile swallows and swifts have already migrated south again. Cold air, bare branches, blankets and shawls,the growing quiet calls us to our own retreat. Then a bell rings out across the hemisphere,the diminishment pauses, then slowly shiftsand we imagine our ancestors standingin the heart of winter’s cold darknesswith faces upward in awe each year as your brilliance begins to brighten the sky for longer each day, gold beams tumbling like treasure. We know on this day the

Of Price and Worth Let the ordinary be in your hand; hold it open and imagine a bird landing, offering all it possesses in trust to come to you. Learn to look for the little things that weigh nothing at all, but fill the heart with such light they can never be measured. -Kenneth Steven, Seeing the Light Dear monks, artists, and pilgrims,  We are delighted to be offering two programs this week to help you slow down and savor the gifts of this time of year as we wait for the tipping point of darkness to light in the