Is Today The Darkest Day?

Today is the Winter Solstice, the shortest day of the year. Many also call it the darkest day of the year, because it is the day that has the most darkness.

Photos from Aleppo are appearing around me. Vivid images of darkness too dark for my imagination to absorb. Scenes of a force that has taken life - literally and figuratively - from a city, a culture, a people. Graphic tales of humankind at its worst, its darkest. My tears blur my vision now, but the images cast in my mind are clear.

This clarity of the story revealed in these photos must bring light. We who are fortunate to be simply witnessing from afar this darkness, and not experiencing it first-hand, must be the light, compelled to act to dispel the darkness. We must see clearly and listen to our hearts to allow our minds to conjure a clear way to aid and stop the dark forces that have created this situation for so many.

Please, please, please open your minds to hear your hearts, and allow the light to bring clear ideas. And share them. And let us all act.

Please, let this be the darkest day, from which light grows longer each day. Please.