Halcyon Days

Halcyon Days by debgrant

There is a Greek myth about two lovers, Alcyone and Ceyx, who angered Zeus with a minor offense. While at sea, Zeus threw a thunderbolt at the ship in which Ceyx was sailing. Word was sent in a dream by another god to Alcyone that her lover whose fate was unknown was drowned near the rocky shore. Alcyone went to the shore heartbroken, wanting to throw herself on the rocks to join Ceyx. The gods sympathized with the couple and convinced Zeus to allow them to be turned into kingfishers. They lived their days as birds along the stormy coast. The storms made it difficult to build a nest and care for their young ones. The god of wind gave the birds a reprieve of 14 days of calm during which they could be in peace for a short time.

The story is the origin of the phrase “Halcyon Days” which is defined more recently as a period of time in the past that was idyllically happy and peaceful.

It is interesting to me that the time in the past that felt like halcyon days to me were not days in my own youth, but the nights much later in my life when I was privileged as pastor invited as a guest to sit around a table, often littered with pizza or barbeque and beer, listening and laughing with college students dancing with their dreams, stirring relationships, trying on opinions. It was an oasis of joy and energy not absent of fear but filled with hope. Like the nest of the mythic kingfishers, it was the nurturing place away from the storm in which they had a short time to find their voice and their wings.

If I had the power of the gods, I would ask the wind of the world to sit down for a while, just long enough for us to remember how to laugh again and protect one another and find a way to hang on.

Mary Chapin Carpenter wrote a song called Jubilee and halcyon days. It’s worth a listen.

Peace,

Deb