Opening Liturgy - Oct 06

Throughout the centuries, people have tried to make sense of the transition from light days to early evenings and long nights. All the implications of the end of Summer - the need for a successful harvest, preparation of food for the barren winter months, gathering fuel for warmth and light – meant that this time of year was associated with anxiety, busy-ness, thanksgiving and thoughtfulness.

For the Celts, the festival of Samhain, which literally means 'Summer's end', marks one of the two great doorways of the Celtic year, because the Celts divided the year into two seasons: the light and the dark, at Beltane on May 1st and Samhain on November 1st. It's thought that Samhain was the more important festival, marking the beginning of a whole new cycle, just as the Celtic day began at night – they believed that in dark silence come whisperings of new beginnings, the stirring of the seed below the ground.

In our world of central heating, supermarkets, electric light, global travel, 24/7 communication, cars and our everyday lives so disconnected from the ebb and flow of the seasons, it is possible to imagine that we wouldn't experience the anxiety or foreboding that the onset of winter brought to our ancestors.

Yet somehow there is something deep inside us that responds to this change from the brightness of summer to dark, dull days – getting up in the dark, getting home from school or work in the dark, cold damp weather setting in. We seem to want to retreat behind our curtains, walking seems less safe, we scurry past shadows...

Light of the world, Enter into the depths of our lives. Come into the dark and hidden places. Walk in the storehouse of our memories. Hear the hidden secrets of the past. Plumb the very depth of our being. Be present through the silent hours and bring us safely to your glorious light .

(David Adam)