By Canon Deborah Parsons, Canon Chancellor
A few people have shared with me in recent weeks how difficult they find the winter months. The reduction in daylight hours. The dark nights. The grey skies and the human urge to hunker down.
As the days grow shorter and the light fades, creation itself seems to invite us into a slower rhythm. Trees shed their leaves, fields lie fallow, and even the air feels quieter. Winter can seem like an ending but in God’s design, it’s also a season of preparation, rest, and hidden growth.
To winter well is to accept that not all seasons are about productivity or visible fruit. Beneath the surface, the roots deepen; in the silence, the soul listens. Scripture reminds us that there is “a time to plant and a time to uproot” (Ecclesiastes 3:2). Winter is that sacred pause – a time when God tends the unseen places of our hearts.
In our faith life, winter may come as weariness, doubt or grief. Yet Christ meets us there. He, too, knew the solitude of the wilderness and the long nights of prayer. In our stillness, He whispers again His promise: “Be still and know that I am God.”
To winter well is not to rush toward spring, but to trust that God is at work even in dormancy. When we embrace the slower pace, nourish our prayer, and rest in hope, we discover that winter’s silence is not empty but full – full of God’s quiet renewal.
May this winter be, for each of us, a gentle invitation to deepen our roots in Christ, so that when the spring comes, we may bloom with new life in His light.