
Today is the Summer Solstice.
I am a summer person. This is MY time of year.
I like the weather hot, the sun shining, and the flowers blooming.
I come alive in summer.
Today is the first day of MY season (ok, not MY season, I will share it. LOL)
Though much of summer solstice originates from pagan, pre-Christian history, I found some fun and thought provoking tidbits about this celebration to share. These facts enriched my prayers this week:
· “Solstice” is derived from two Latin words: “sol” meaning sun, and “sistere,” to cause to stand still. This is because, as the summer solstice approaches, the noonday sun rises higher and higher in the sky on each successive day. On the day of the solstice, it rises an imperceptible amount, compared to the day before. In this sense, it “stands still.”
Lord, help me to stand still. You tell us tenderly, “Be still and know I am God.” Just as the sun obeys You in this command, I pause in Your sacred stillness. As the sun rises each day, may I daily stand still in Your presence.
· In pre-historic times, summer was a joyous time of the year for the Aboriginal people who lived in the northern latitudes. The snow had disappeared; the ground had thawed and plants were growing once again.
Creator God, today reminds me of the rhythm of Your seasons. There are times of growth and times of rest. You care for the fallow ground, the buried seeds, and the dried leaves blanketing the garden. Thank you for the joy found in all seasons, even those dry ones when I can’t see Your nurturing. I am grateful that You tend my soul in every season, Lord.
· Without the tilt of the earth’s axis, we would have no seasons. The sun’s rays would be directly overhead of the equator all year long. When the axis tilts towards the sun, as it does between June and September, it is summer in the northern hemisphere, but winter in the southern hemisphere. Alternatively, when the axis points away from the sun from December to March, the southern hemisphere enjoys the direct rays of the sun during their summer months. Every day would be a summer solstice for the equator and winter solstice for the poles. There would be no seasons, and the world as we know it would be a very different place: a lifeless desert around the equator and frozen poles equally as hostile to life.
Tilted. I never thought I would or could thank you Lord for a tilted earth. Yet in Your creativity, Your all-encompassing knowledge, Your beyond comprehension imagination, You made the earth and then decided to tilt it. Like an artist, seeing a masterpiece from a different perspective, You gently pushed us off what we would have thought was the perfect design and conceived the seasons.
Thank You for tilting the earth and giving us seasons.
Fabulous post, Jean. Loved the way you mingled science and faith into a beautiful lesson with prayers.
Beautiful! Love how you turn it into prayers. Summer is a great time for me, as a mom, to be more still. Such a blessing!
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I loved this Jean! Thank you for the lesson, and the prayer!
Have a Blessed Day!
Jean, I love this! I love how you take these facts and totally turn them into a prayer. Brilliant and lovely!
Good post, Jeanie. Yes, you are a summer person. Wonder if God knowingly “tilted” my mind? teehee…