We are in the world. Not of it, but in it, from our conception until our last breath. And no matter what we do– if we chain ourselves in an anchorite’s cave or hide behind the walls of a cloister, as is some people’s special vocation; if we were to put ourselves in stasis and travel by rocket ship for a thousand years; if we were to take any kind of drug that changed our awareness and made us hallucinate unearthly things– no matter what, we remain in this created world. We are subject to the changing of seasons. Sometimes we go to bed before sunset, and sometimes we get up before dawn. Sometimes we get jet lag. Sometimes we can’t sleep because the light is too bright. Sometimes we’re physically sickened by the darkness and have to use a sun lamp. Because we are in the world.
The seasons change, and we experience that change. If you live in a temperate climate, then for one quarter of a year the people who enjoy stifling hot weather get what they like best; for a quarter of the year they’re gradually anticipating the heat, and for a quarter of the year they’re weaning off of it, and for that final quarter they’re suffering in the cold. For people like me who hate hot weather, it’s the opposite– a quarter of suffering, a quarter of anticipation, a quarter of joy and a quarter of weaning off of joy into darkness, but at different times of the year. And both kinds of people have to live together, in the same place, and marvel at each other’s differences.
The terrains change, and we experience that change as well. Some people live up beyond the arctic circle; they can’t fathom a place where the temperature doesn’t even get below seventy at night. They have a long night in the winter and a long day in the summer. They can’t imagine it otherwise. Some people live on the equator and can’t imagine needing a jacket. Their days are all the same length, and this is normal to them. Some live in the desert and think the rain is beautifully exotic. Some live where it’s cloudy and rejoice in the rare sunny day. Some of us are in the mountains, and find the plains eerily flat and monotonous, and to some the sight of mountains is terrifying.
Equinoxes will come to the house of the pagan and the Christian both, twice a year at their appointed times, unless they live right smack on the equator where it’s the equinox all year round. Day and night will come for everyone. Evening comes and morning follows, whether you observe Vespers, Compline and Matins or not. Light and darkness are universal. No human being can be spared them.
This is grace. That we who are Christians should be citizens of the other Kingdom, still bound by the seasons of this world, is grace. The diversity in our own day to day experience and between different people in different parts of the world, is a great sign for us. It’s a sign of the mystery of God, a reminder that none of us should drag God down into our own minds and pretend we understand Him fully. God is the God of the hills and the plains, the mountains and the sea. God is the God of heat waves and frost. God is in the things we understand and love, and in the places we fear and could never imagine. God is present in what is normal for someone else, as much as He is present in what is normal for you. God is the God of the jungle, the garden, the desert and the glacier. God is the God of winter, summer, fall and spring, of the sun and the dark. God knows these things. God pronounces all of them good.
In the kingdom that is to come, we will see God clearly. Here, we see fragments; we learn something of God from the light, something from the dark, something from the winter and something from the summer. So I think Christians ought to celebrate all of these things. Maybe not as the pagans do, depending on what happens at a pagan celebration, but we should celebrate the equinoxes. We should celebrate the solstices. We should celebrate the first day of the week and thank God it’s Friday. We should glory in the first falling leaf, the first snow, the breaking up of the ice, the ripening of the apples. We should praise God if we happen to travel through mountains, or when mountains give way to flat land. All of these things are sacred because the Lord created them and pronounced them good.
The equinox will come to your house. It’s here today, and will be again in six months. Celebrate it. Today is holy, because it is a day, but especially because it is a day in which seasons change. Happy holiday.
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