summer solstice
Posted by Brian Draper Thu, 24/06/2004 - 4:34pm
Monday was the longest day, and thousands of druids and pagans headed down to Stonehenge to mark the occasion. I always think it's a shame that Christians have run scared of marking days like this, when we, as humans, sense a deeper affinity with Creation.
It made me wonder how we could think from a Christian perspective about summer-time (June 21st marks the official start of summer) and the longest day.
There's play, for a start. Somewhere deep within the Protestant Work Ethic, we seem to have lost our God-breathed sense of playfulness. Summer, with longer days, holidays and relaxation, helps to bring play back to the surface for a season.
Then there's a sense of letting go, of 'shedding'. We wear less clothes, for a start, and we feel, in a way, lighter. It does us good to travel light, and perhaps summer is a time to evaluate what we have picked up on our travels, and what we might shed as we try to lighten our load in life.
We can also take the chance to make cultural comparisons, and ask how our understanding of summertime might even affect the way we read the Bible. In Britain, we enjoy four seasons, but we crave sunshine because we don't see so much of it. In hotter, drier climes, the sun is not always considered a great friend. While it provides warmth and happiness, it also has the power to burn, to wither, to bake.
Personally, though, I love the light evenings and mornings, and the start of summer is a great chance to reflect on what it means to walk in the light of life (Psalm 56). The metaphor of light shines throughout the Bible, perhaps most brightly in John's prologue.
It's too late to celebrate the longest day, now, but it's not too late to meditate on God's provision through Creation, and our relationship with everything God has made, including the Earth and the Sun.
Perhaps we can start reclaiming some of the territory we've surrendered to pagans, druids and New Age searchers. But in doing so, we might perhaps learn something from them - as we seek to help all people make greater sense of our place in the universe.
It made me wonder how we could think from a Christian perspective about summer-time (June 21st marks the official start of summer) and the longest day.
There's play, for a start. Somewhere deep within the Protestant Work Ethic, we seem to have lost our God-breathed sense of playfulness. Summer, with longer days, holidays and relaxation, helps to bring play back to the surface for a season.
Then there's a sense of letting go, of 'shedding'. We wear less clothes, for a start, and we feel, in a way, lighter. It does us good to travel light, and perhaps summer is a time to evaluate what we have picked up on our travels, and what we might shed as we try to lighten our load in life.
We can also take the chance to make cultural comparisons, and ask how our understanding of summertime might even affect the way we read the Bible. In Britain, we enjoy four seasons, but we crave sunshine because we don't see so much of it. In hotter, drier climes, the sun is not always considered a great friend. While it provides warmth and happiness, it also has the power to burn, to wither, to bake.
Personally, though, I love the light evenings and mornings, and the start of summer is a great chance to reflect on what it means to walk in the light of life (Psalm 56). The metaphor of light shines throughout the Bible, perhaps most brightly in John's prologue.
It's too late to celebrate the longest day, now, but it's not too late to meditate on God's provision through Creation, and our relationship with everything God has made, including the Earth and the Sun.
Perhaps we can start reclaiming some of the territory we've surrendered to pagans, druids and New Age searchers. But in doing so, we might perhaps learn something from them - as we seek to help all people make greater sense of our place in the universe.
