“Now is the very bottom of the night, the deepest dark of the year. The fire of the sun burns low in the sky. The clouds cover it like ash. But from that low, live coal the year will be renewed. The light will be carried forward and upward until it reaches its height and begins its descent again.
“Just as a mother about to give birth carries her child low in her belly, these are the nights from which the light of new life is born. Now is the season to bear witness to that light, to cradle it like a child, to protect it like the flame of a candle that you cup with your hand.
“The light is itself inextinguishable. It does not truly flicker, nor will it ever be blown out. You must carry it carefully nevertheless, for in this life you stand below it like the candle stands below the flame.”