What Turns When the Night Stops Growing
A Meditation by Rev. Cameron Trimble
“For everything there is a season, and a time for every matter under heaven.” — Ecclesiastes 3:1
The winter solstice came and went last night, mostly unnoticed. No headlines marked it. No alarms sounded. The Earth simply reached a limit and began—without drama—to turn.
That detail matters more than we usually admit.
For most of human history, people paid close attention to this moment because it named a boundary. There is a point, the solstice teaches, beyond which the dark does not get to claim more ground. The cold may deepen. The days may still feel short. But the descent itself has ended.
We are living in a time that feels like an extended descent. Violence repeats. Language corrodes. Truth is bent until it becomes unrecognizable. Institutions once trusted now feel brittle or captured. Many of us carry a quiet fear that what we are witnessing is not temporary, but terminal.
The solstice does not answer that fear. It does something more interesting.
It reminds us that change often begins in ways that are structurally invisible. Nothing feels different the morning after the solstice. The nights are still long. The evidence for optimism remains thin.
And yet the physics have shifted.
This is where modern impatience betrays us. We have trained ourselves to expect transformation to announce itself clearly—to be felt immediately, to justify our effort, to prove that endurance has been worth it. But the natural world does not operate on the timeline of reassurance. Growth happens underground. Turning happens before comfort follows.
In ecological terms, the solstice is not an outcome; it is an orientation. The system has reached a threshold and begun to reorganize itself.
That is a useful frame for this moment.
We may not yet see the results of moral courage, truth-telling, or sustained care. We may feel exhausted by the repetition of harm and the slowness of repair. But the solstice invites a different question than Is it working? It asks instead: Has the direction changed?
The wisdom traditions that grew close to the land understood this intuitively. They did not confuse darkness with failure or delay with abandonment. They learned how to live inside long arcs of becoming—trusting that fidelity mattered even when evidence lagged behind effort.
This is not naïve hope. It is disciplined perception.
The solstice does not tell us that things will be easy. It tells us that limits exist—even for darkness. That systems bend before they heal. That the work of turning often happens without applause, certainty, or immediate reward.
Today, we stand just past that quiet hinge in the year. Nothing is resolved. Nothing is guaranteed. But something has shifted.
The invitation is not to rush toward light, but to live as people who understand how turning works—slowly, subtly, and with consequences that unfold over time.
That kind of understanding does not make us passive. It makes us patient in the strongest sense of the word: capable of bearing what must be borne without surrendering to despair.
We are in this together,
Cameron
Reflection Questions
Where does it feel like the descent has gone on longer than you can tolerate?
What would it mean to trust that a turning might already be underway, even if you cannot yet feel its effects?
How has impatience—yours or the culture’s—shaped your understanding of hope?
A Prayer for the Day
A Prayer For Those Learning to Trust the Turn
God of seasons and thresholds, of limits and slow rearrangements, We confess how quickly we demand proof that our endurance matters. Teach us to recognize turning points that do not announce themselves, to honor faithfulness that precedes relief. When we cannot feel the light returning, help us trust the deeper rhythms that hold us nonetheless. Give us the courage to live into the turn before it becomes comfortable. Amen.
Spiritual Practice
Noticing Orientation
Over the next day or two:
Pay attention not to what has improved, but to what has stopped getting worse.
Notice where the downward momentum has paused, even slightly.
Ask yourself: What does this moment require—action, rest, or steadiness?
Let your response be proportionate, not reactive. The solstice does not promise resolution. It offers direction.
That may be enough—for now.
Upcoming Events That Might Be of Interest…
January 6, 13, 20, 2026 - Protest and Action Chaplaincy Training with Rev. Anna Golladay. This live, online training offers a framework for providing compassionate, grounded spiritual care during protests, advocacy gatherings, and social movements. Learn more here.
January 15, 2026, 7-8pm EST - FREE Online Webinar: When the Internet Hurts: The Hidden Online Dangers Facing Our Teens and How Faith Communities Can Respond, Join me in conversation with Sharon Winkler, survivor parent and nationally respected youth online-safety advocate. Sharon’s son, Alex, died at age 17 after experiencing cyberbullying and algorithmically targeted pro-suicide content. Since then, Sharon has dedicated her life to helping parents, educators, and faith leaders recognize online dangers and build safer communities for young people. Register here.
February 11th and 25, 2026 - Join Our “Building a Culture of Leadership Within Congregations” Cohort facilitated by Rabbi Benjamin Ross and me! A two-session course for ministers and faith leaders ready to strengthen how their congregations and ministries identify, develop, and support leaders. Learn more here.
July 19-24, 2026 - Join me and amazing co-facilitator, Victoria, on retreat in the back-country of beautiful Wyoming. The Art of Wilding is a 5-Day Expedition for Women Leaders. We will spend the week reconnecting to nature, exploring our inner landscapes for change, and engage the wisdom of spiritual teachings. Click here to learn more.
I drafted a Strategic Framework for Congregations as we move into the coming years of increased authoritarianism around the world. If interested, you can download it here.
Fun Things My Friends Are Up To…
I get to work with such amazing, creative people. This section is my way of celebrating them—no paid promotions, just joy in what they’re creating.
My friend and Buddhist teacher, Isa Gucciardi’s center, the Foundation of the Sacred Stream, has just released their 2026 calendar of events. I can’t recommend her courses enough. Check them out here.
Have you heard that Dr. Matthew Fox is taking a group to Italy?!? It’s a week-long retreat in Sardinia on May 25-30, 2026 focused on the theme of Awakening the Divine Human, rooted in the teachings of Matthew, C.G. Jung, and the ancient wisdom of the land. I so wish I could go, but I am already booked. You should consider it.
If you are a leader or member of a congregation looking for consulting support in visioning, planning, hiring or staffing, please consider Convergence.
Has America reached her solstice???
Turning, tipping points,
changes can be gradual, slow.
Like light returning.
...
Orientation shifts
point to brighter times ahead.
Persistence, patience.