Seasons

I am a lover of all seasons.  The spring may be windy and rainy, but life emerges from the ground in a fascinating and beautiful manner.  The summer may be unbearably hot, but the skies are clear and the nights are warm.  The fall may bring chills and kill the plants, but the air is crisp and the colors are extraordinary.  The winter may seem to bring life to a standstill with its icy gaze, but snow is a truly amazing and exciting weather phenomenon.

When people ask me which season I like best, I have a difficult time deciding, but usually settle for whichever season is coming next.  This is not due to dissatisfaction, but the excitement for what is just around the corner, because I haven't been able to experience the joys that come with it for 3/4 of a year.

Sometimes, it seems that all people do is hate the season they are in and long for the opposite.  Winter in particular seems generally despised by the public.  And I can understand why.  The bitter cold combined with a confinement to buildings and at least 3" of bundling in order to resemble any sort of comfort is bad enough.  But once you've added the effects of a runny nose, dry skin and an army of illnesses marching around, we have a lot to complain about.

Yet I wonder if we spend as much time remarking on the marvels of winter as we do the inconveniences.  How often do we observe the intricate designs of frost on the window, or the way each individual snowflake falls, gently kissing the earth and resting like a soft white blanket?  Do we consider the birds, who sit in trees, vulnerable to the mighty north wind due to the lack of leaves?  They sing sweetly, welcoming sunshine and the new day.  Do we pause to consider that though the sun is far away, it still manages to come up and go down, bringing warmth and melting away the frozen waters, even when the temperature wouldn't allow for it?

What better excuse can you have to grab a sled (or piece of cardboard) and let yourself slide down a hill?  When else can you ski down a mountain?  How much better does it feel to sit by the fire, drinking hot chocolate and reading a wonderful book, when you know that the earth lies in frozen silence outside?  And how much more can we appreciate the growth of spring, the warmth of summer, and the colors of fall if we did not know the disparities of winter?

I know that we have a wonderful Creator when I witness these things and ask these questions.  There is such variety, such deep beauty, and such care in every plant, animal and cloud.  I thank God for his amazing creation and the chance I have to enjoy it.  I know it can be tough at times and we feel as though we are suffering through everlasting winters, but it is important to remember that good things still exist, the sun will rise again, and spring is just around the corner.

A Light in the Darkness

The metaphor for light as good and dark as bad are common for many different languages, something I was surprised to discover in my Spanish class in high school.  However, in thinking more in depth on the subject, I realized this should not be so surprising, since the metaphor was used in the Bible, and Christianity would have brought that metaphor with it as it swept across Europe, influencing the numerous languages that were developing at the time.  (I would not be altogether surprised if some of the languages that have been largely untouched by Christianity still use the metaphor, but that is my personal theory for its spread into many Germanic- and Latin-based languages.

Altogether, I really enjoy this metaphor.  It was unfortunately, I believe, used to further suppress people of African descent, but beyond that, it is a remarkably universal metaphor probably because darkness and light are present everywhere, and anyone who can see could notice the differences in shades on every object.  Of course, there is the wonderful saying by Terry Pratchett, which seems to ring with truth:
"Light thinks it travels faster than anything but it is wrong.  No matter how fast light travels, it finds the darkness has always got there first, and is waiting for it."

This quote makes a lot of sense in physics, but when applied to the metaphor of light as pure goodness and darkness as evil, it seems exceedingly pessimistic and almost frightening.

(Now I'll swing the dialog in another direction, but I promise, I'll get back to light and dark.)  In Genesis 3, we read about Adam and Eve and how they sinned and were banished from the beautiful Garden of Eden.  Prior to their sin, they "were both naked, and they felt no shame" (Gen 2:25, NIV).  After they sinned, "the eyes of both of them were opened, and they realized they were naked; so they sewed fig leaves together and made coverings for themselves" (Gen 3:7).  Later, when God confronted them about their sin, he "made garments of skin for Adam and his wife and clothed them" (Gen 3:21).  The clothes act as imagery of their sins.  Before sinning, they were perfectly fine.  They knew each other intimately and there was nothing to be ashamed of.  After they sinned, they definitely were ashamed, and sought to hide from one another their bodies.  Of course, they did a rather inadequate job of this and when God confronted them, he was able to make more substantial clothes.  He didn't remove their fig coverings, because the sin and shame were still there.  The relationship between Adam and Eve, though still husband and wife, was broken.  They could no longer feel unashamed in each other's presence.  They didn't know each other as they had before.  Adam and Eve would have to work together to gain back the wonderful relationship they had once had.

Skip forward several books in the Bible and come back to the topic of light and darkness to John 3:19-20, "This is the verdict: Light has come into the world, but people loved darkness instead of light because their deeds were evil.  Everyone who does evil hates the light, and will not come into the light for fear that their deeds will be exposed.  But whoever lives by the truth comes into the light, so that it may be seen plainly that what they have done has been done in the sight of God."
This passage says that sinners lie in darkness, not wanting to be exposed.  Like Adam and Eve, sinners (myself included) hide in shadows, not wanted others, particularly God, to see the shame.  We can try to obscure our sins by "creating our own coverings," but it's pointless and God already sent Jesus (see the previous verses in John 3), a much better covering than the clothes we could make.  The clothes he gives can completely do away with the sin and after accepting them, it's time to work on the relationship with him.