What helps me navigate the dark?

I know…I already responded to the daily question but then I read Richard Rohr’s meditation and the words of Rev. Dr. Jacqui Lewis are so profound, I wanted to share them. She is quoted in the first couple of paragraphs of today’s meditation. Here’s the link:
https://cac.org/daily-meditations/a-collective-impact/

I share a Morning Med from 2022. I hope you will have time to read it.
Morning Meds Feb 10 2022 Holy Darkness

Good Morning All: I will share what we call “A Story for All Ages” that I presented at a UU service while living in AZ. I love this part of a UU service as the children come forward and you tell them a story then they go to their morning study where they are taught about a benevolent universe. This script is based on a story by Florence Holbrook (1860-1932) but I had to modify it quite a bit to deliver the message I desired to share with the children. I’ve pasted my story below and Holbrook’s original text immediately follows it. Hope you enjoy both. Blessings, Carol

Holy darkness, Wintery night
Your mystery beckons to fill us with insight
If we embrace you, with hearts wide open
We BECOME your holy light.

Story for all Ages:       What is IS 
    What is IS and the birds always know when winter is coming. So they fly south where they will be warm and they can find berries to eat. 
    But this winter, one little bird had broken its wing and could not fly away with the others. She was left alone in the cold…gray… dawn… of winter.
    She looked hopefully toward the forest and thought: The forest looks warm.  Maybe, I can build a nest there. And so, dragging her broken wing, she made her way to the trees to ask for help.
    First she came to the birch tree. “Beautiful birch tree,” she said, “My wing is broken, and my friends have flown away… May I climb among your leaves ‘til they come back to me???”
    “No, indeed,” answered the birch tree, drawing its fair green leaves away. “I can do nothing for you.”
    The birch is not very strong,” thought the little bird. “It might be that it could not hold me easily.  I will ask the oak.”
     “Great oak tree, you are so strong, will you not let me live on your branches ‘til my friends come back in the springtime?”
    “In the springtime!” cried the oak. “That is a long way off. She didn’t wait around for his “no.”  She just moved on to see if the willow tree might help her.
    “Graceful willow tree, I am all alone in the forest and winter is coming. May I live on your branches till the springtime?” The willow stiffened in a way that was no longer graceful and she said, “No, no, no, no…that would not be wise… but…I believe that you will find a tree somewhere in the forest that will take you in. I urge you to continue your search.”
    Well, by this time, little bird was getting quite discouraged…for What is IS and the forest did not seem to be a very friendly place. So as best she could with her wounded wing, she began to limp away.
But then she heard a voice calling to her, “O Little bird, where are you going?”
She turned and there was a lovely Spruce tree.
She said, “I’m trying to find a place to build a nest and I am not having much luck.  You see I have a broken wing and I am tired, and cold and hungry.
    “Well,” said the friendly spruce tree,   “You can nest on my thickest and warmest branch all winter long.”
And then a pine tree piped up and said, “And I am big and I am strong and I will do my best to protect you from the cold winter wind”
    And the little juniper trees said, “Ha, We are loaded with juicy read berries and we will feed you through the winter.”
“Really?” said little bird.
    The spruce tree smiled and said, “Yes, really.” And bending low she reached out and scooped up little bird, placing her deep within her branches.
    Little bird was so thankful and as she hunkered down, the junipers swayed, tossing berries into her nest.” What is IS,” she thought and I have found a winter home…a safe place to rest and nest until my friends return with the sun.”
    It was a dark and cold winter.  For that very night, the North Wind began to howl like a wolf.  And by the next morning, the Frost King had touched all of the leaves on the oak, the birch and the willow and they were turning beautiful reds and oranges and yellows…and then falling from the trees, forming a colorful carpet on the ground.  Little bird was in awe.  What a story she would have to tell her friends when they returned. 
    Now she understood why the birch, the oak and the willow had not permitted her to nest in their branches; they knew she would not have survived the cold winter wind.  Why, without their leaves, how would they have protected her?
    But then that north wind began circling the forest as she huddled deep within the spruce tree’s branches and no matter how much the pine tried to protect her, the cold wind was winning the battle.  The wind shouted to the Frost King, “Why, Why are these trees still green? No matter how hard I blow, there is no frost?”
    The Frost King replied, “Because, they are willing to protect the little bird, they remain evergreen.” 
Little Bird began to relax as the wind subsided. She was so thankful she had not given up but had asked tree after tree to provide her with a winter home. Even her cold little beak could not prevent her from bursting into song.
    The Frost King smiled with satisfaction for her song reminded him that there is joy in the darkest hour…it reminded him that the oak, the birch and the willow would bloom again in the spring.
    And he knew little bird was safe and that her broken wing would heal from the inside out during the restful winter and come spring, she would soar high above the forest.
    For you see:  “What is IS” and the darkness is as blessed as the light. END OF MY STORY. HOLBROOK’S STORY FOLLOWS.
 
Why the Evergreen Trees Never Lose their Leaves, by Florence Holbrook
Winter was coming, and the birds had flown far to the south, where the air was warm and they could find berries to eat. One little bird had broken its wing and could not fly with the others. It was alone in the cold world of frost and snow. The forest looked warm, and it made its way to the trees as well as it could, to ask for help.
First it came to a birch tree. “Beautiful birch tree,” it said, “my wing is broken, and my friends have flown away. May I live among your branches till they come back to me?”
“No, indeed,” answered the birch tree, drawing her fair green leaves away. “We of the great forest have our own birds to help. I can do nothing for you.”
“The birch is not very strong,” said the little bird to itself, “and it might be that she could not hold me easily. I will ask the oak.” So the bird said: “Great oak tree, you are so strong, will you not let me live on your boughs till my friends come back in the springtime?”
“In the springtime!” cried the oak. “That is a long way off. How do I know what you might do in all that time? Birds are always looking for something to eat, and you might even eat up some of my acorns.”
“It may be that the willow will be kind to me,” thought the bird, and it said: “Gentle willow, my wing is broken, and I could not fly to the south with the other birds. May I live on your branches till the springtime?”
The willow did not look gentle then, for she drew herself up proudly and said: “Indeed, I do not know you, and we willows never talk to people whom we do not know. Very likely there are trees somewhere that will take in strange birds. Leave me at once.”
The poor little bird did not know what to do. Its wing was not yet strong, but it began to fly away as well as it could. Before it had gone far a voice was heard. “Little bird,” it said, “where are you going?”
“Indeed, I do not know,” answered the bird sadly. “I am very cold.”
“Come right here, then,” said the friendly spruce tree, for it was her voice that had called.
“You shall live on my warmest branch all winter if you choose.”
“Will you really let me?” asked the little bird eagerly.
“Indeed, I will,” answered the kind-hearted spruce tree. “If your friends have flown away, it is time for the trees to help you. Here is the branch where my leaves are thickest and softest.”
“My branches are not very thick,” said the friendly pine tree, “but I am big and strong, and I can keep the North Wind from you and the spruce.”
“I can help, too,” said a little juniper tree. “I can give you berries all winter long, and every bird knows that juniper berries are good.”
So the spruce gave the lonely little bird a home; the pine kept the cold North Wind away from it; and the juniper gave it berries to eat. The other trees looked on and talked together wisely.
“I would not have strange birds on my boughs,” said the birch.
“I shall not give my acorns away for any one,” said the oak.
“I never have anything to do with strangers,” said the willow, and the three trees drew their leaves closely about them.
In the morning all those shining, green leaves lay on the ground, for a cold North Wind had come in the night, and every leaf that it touched fell from the tree.
“May I touch every leaf in the forest?” asked the wind in its frolic.
“No,” said the Frost King. “The trees that have been kind to the little bird with the broken wing may keep their leaves.”
This is why the leaves of the spruce, the pine, and the juniper are always green.

. Florence Holbrook lived from 1860 to 1932. She spent most of her life as a teacher in Chicago, and she believed that public education was necessary for democracy. She was also a political activist who worked ardently for right of women to vote. This is one of the many “nature myths” she wrote for children to read.