Carl Sagan’s Cosmic Calendar maps the entire history of our cosmos onto a single year. After the Big Bang on January 1, we have to wait until May for the Milky Way to form and September for our own sun to form. But things get really busy in December.
Read MoreRotting Silver is a column devoted to this Earth in all its tarnished radiance: poetry, prose, and parables of ugliness alloyed with joy.
Read MoreOn this day long ago, a child was born who, by age 30, would transform the world. Sir Isaac Newton was born Dec 25, 1642. Before he turned 30, Newton had discovered the laws of motion, the universal law of gravitation, and invented integral and differential calculus.
Read MoreThe winter solstice happens in nature around us. But it also happens inside of us, in our souls, at any time of the year. Sometimes we go to the dark place of our soul, where we can find safety and comfort. In the the dark place in our soul we can find rest and rejuvenation. In the dark place of our soul we can find balance. And when we have rested, and been comforted, and restored, we can return from the dark place in our soul to the world of light and new possibilities.
Read MoreEverything old tends to become new again. That, combined with the freedom of religion we enjoy in our society, may be the reason that many people are re-igniting ancient traditions that are remarkably in-tune with modern values, and which bring new meaning for them to the holidays.
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