Wednesday, September 16, 2026

“God spoke: “Lights! Come out! Shine in Heaven’s sky! Separate Day from Night. Mark seasons and days and years, Lights in Heaven’s sky to give light to Earth.” And there it was. (Genesis 1:14, The Message Bible)

               Where has the summer gone? I am not done with it yet! I like the long hours of daylight. I don’t want cold and snow. I want short sleeves and tee shirts, not boots and gloves and winter parkas.  I know that as a good Canadian, I’m supposed to say that I love the four seasons of a Canadian year.  But I want summer to last longer and winter days be fewer. Like many seniors have found, the days just seem to fly by and there is just no stopping precious time. I look at our grandchildren and wonder when did they get to be so tall and so much older?

                But apparently all these seasonal shifts are a part of God’s creative plan and according to the Creation narratives, “God saw that it was good.” Each “day” was full of change and an abundance of life and creative energy. Each day was a blessing. Each day was a vibrant celebration of possibility and accomplishment.  Each day produced life, new forms of flora and fauna, and all living things including, finally, man and woman. For six glorious “days,” God fashioned our beautiful and Edenic world and all that is in it. Only at the end, did God rest and look at what he had made.  God looked over everything he had made; “it was so good, so very good!”

                So, who am I to quibble over the changing of seasons or the passage of time? They are a wondrous gift from God. Every season in our lives brings new possibility, fresh understanding, evokes powerful memories, and becomes a celebration of the goodness of God. We are reminded of those words from Ecclesiastes: “For everything there is a season, a time for every activity under heaven.” (Ecclesiastes 3:1) In that well-known passage, the Teacher covers the gamut of human life’s experiences, both the good and the not-so-good. The teacher is somewhat cynical about these changes in life, but this text can be used for our understanding that life is  not static and is always in motion.  Our human lives fluctuate in many ways.  We need always to be aware as to how God is also moving with us in these changes.  “For we are what he has made us, created in Christ Jesus for good works, which God prepared beforehand so that we may walk in them.” (Ephesians 2:10, New Living Translation)

                In the beginning of the Creation narratives, there is much emphasis on the creation of light. “God saw that light was good and separated light from dark.” (vss. 3 -5)  As the day-light get shorter and shorter and  we move deeper into the Autumn season,  there is still much brightness in our world. Farmers’ markets are bursting in abundance. The air will  become fresh and crisp.  Fall colours will make us gasp with awe. Every season has its possibilities and opportunities to find God in them, even winter.  Light plays an important part in the darkness. It sets apart the influence of God’s Creative Love and Grace from the elements of darkness. Even in the dark night of the souls, God’s Light be found.  Winter never has the last word.  “The people who walked in darkness have seen a great light; those who lived in a land of deep darkness— on them light has shined.” (Isaiah 9:2)

                In an  echo of the Genesis story, John the Gospel writer  wrote, “The light shines in the darkness, and the darkness did not overtake it.” (John 1:5) He lifts up Jesus Christ as the true Light who has come into the world (1:9) so that we may see the best way forward. We live our lives each and  every day, no matter what the season, in the accompaniment of the Light of Jesus. “I am the light of the world. Whoever follows me will never walk in darkness but will have the light of life.” (John 8:12)

                Shine Jesus, shine!

 Prayer;

Our Creator God, fill us with the light of your Love and Grace. May we reflect the shining countenance of Jesus in all that we say or do. Enlighten us with compassion, forgiveness, mercy and love so that we, too. may be light for others.  May your face shine upon us and grant us your Peace. In Jesus’ name, amen.