feast of st lucy

st lucy's day dawns pearly gray, but the sky never brightens beyond lead. the smell of snow is in the air, a brooding silence blankets the woods. school is already cancelled.

i may not get to see my grandmother. i didn't bake the cake, but i do have bananas and hard candy, fruit juice and apple sauce. i have her christmas tree, and her boots. i even have some mail.

but whether i get there or not, my recognition of the feast of st lucy doesn't really have much to do with my grandmother. the reason the catholics have so many saints in the first place is because most of them are old pagan gods and goddesses, remnants of ancient beliefs and practices absorbed by the conquering church.

tonight we will decorate our christmas tree. we will lace it with lights, we will drape it garland and cherished ornaments. we will bless it and take pictures of it, will pile up presents beneath it. this year i'll think of it not just as a christmas tree, but as a lucy tree - a reminder of the nascent spark that burns, even at the nadir of light.

and furthermore, the war must end. blessed be.