February Sun
Essay Posted February 6, 2007 by James E. Nelson
[Saturday, Feb. 3] Tonight I went to Vespers under a sun-drenched sky. By the time Vespers was done the sun had set but it was still daylight. It reminded me of Alaska. Of course it helps that it’s stayed below freezing for a couple of weeks and we have over a foot of snow on the ground. But it’s the February sun that reminded me of Alaska.
Even though the days get incrementally longer after the winter solstice, there is always a day, a moment in time when you suddenly realize it’s light and the last time you remember this moment it was dark. This year it was when I pulled out of the garage on the way to Vespers. In late December and early January it was already dark when I left for Vespers. I suspect the last couple of weeks were overcast and the dull steel sky caused me to not notice the light. Or maybe I just wasn’t paying attention. But tonight I had to look right into the sun to see if there was any traffic. Tonight I needed my sunglasses to go to church.
After the long winter darkness the sun is not only a welcome sight, it is a joy that warms the heart. It reminds me of a dog, who having returned from its wanderings across the fields, sees you in the yard and returns, wagging its tail against your leg, slobbering on your shoes, dancing circles around your body just for the sheer joy of once again being in your presence. So is the sun upon its return after the winter solstice.
Of course winter’s not over. If it were Alaska, there would still be months of winter remaining. Even here in northern Nebraska I don’t expect winter to disappear immediately. But that moment marked the end of dark winter and the beginning of bright winter. And bright winter is a joyous winter. The heaviness of long winter nights is over and the joy and lengthening days has arrived. In that context, the cold and snow is only an inconvenience and no longer a burden.
Humans are blessed with short memories. It’s our short memories that allow us, in turn, to bless the sun as the days grow longer. Only six months ago the weather was oppressively hot and the remnants of the day remained even when I went to bed. I awoke in blazing sunshine. But my tendency (our tendency, the human tendency) is not to remember that. Rather we put today in the context of yesterday and last week. Last week it was dark. This week it is light. A month ago we had no snow. We have actually had a brown and gray winter here in Siouxland until just the last couple of weeks. But even that is forgotten amidst the snow outside my window.
And that it why today’s sun is such a joy. Today’s sunny drive to Vespers is naturally put into the context of my drives to Vespers over the last several weeks. Compared to six months ago, today was short. But my memory doesn’t put today into that context; it merely remembers that last week was dark and this week was bright.
I have talked about this in my Alaska Journal, but it is worth reiterating: In the north, Pascha (or Easter) is not a celebration of Spring, it is rather a celebration of the return of the light. Of course, in proper church terms, it is a celebration of the Resurrection of our Lord and Savior, Jesus Christ. But as Orthodox theology emphasizes, the Feasts of the Church are set to correspond to the seasons. The great celebrations of the church are timed in such a way that there is corresponding natural response. The Nativity is a solstice event. The Resurrection is a Vernal Equinox event. Dormition (the Feast in honor of the death of the Mother of our Lord) occurs in mid-August, as the leaves begin to grow dry and rattle ominously on the trees and the color summer drains away to dull greens, ochers, umbers, and golds.
We are nearing the end of “Triodion” (the three Sundays prior to Great Lent that offers us pictures of true repentance and warns us of judgment. Next Monday (a week from now) we dip our toe into the water of fasting and the Lenten Fast proper begins in only two weeks. I am more of a couch potato than an athlete; I am more lazy than disciplined, and so the prospect of the discipline of the Lenten Fast does not excite me. Even though I know I am called to be a spiritual athlete, I would prefer not to do the work of preparation. As a result the arrival of Lent does not fill me with great joy.
But Great Lent is not meant to be a burden nor is it a law that besets us. It should rather be a time of joyful and expectant repentance as we move toward the light of life. So it is perfect timing that that moment, the day when I saw with my own eyes that we have moved out of dark winter and into bright winter, has come at this particular time. Spring and the celebration of the Resurrection of our Lord and Savior are both just around the corner. It’s time to get ready. It’s time to rejoice.
Copyright © 2007 James E. Nelson (Just Another Jim). All Rights Reserved.
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