The beginning of winter feels like a roller coaster. On the one hand, I'm falling in love again with the beauty of the low winter sunlight reflecting on the snowy city. A Russian kind of winter wonderland.On the other hand, there is the depression of the darkness. Were our bodies even designed to live this far north? Everything in me screams "no" each time I prepare to go outside. Every day during the daylight hours (from about 10-4) I force myself to look out the window or maybe take a little walk if possible, just to remind myself that daytime still exists.
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But on a positive note, I find it a gift to prepare for Christmas in this part of the world. Maybe Christ wasn't born in winter in a cold climate, but it makes waiting for the Light so meaningful when it is dark outside. Maybe my life isn't shrouded in spiritual darkness, but the metaphor works. When it is dark, we feel miserable. Therefore, I can imagine the feelings of despair when one has not yet found Christ, or when He seems far away.
If you are in a different climate, maybe God speaks to you in a different way through nature. But this is the way He is speaking to me in this place, at this time. And I'm thankful for it.
I was just talking to someone about this sort of issue. I have to get up at 3:15 each morning and was commenting that a couple of times this week I went to bed at about 7:15/7:30 - but I was STILL feeling exhausted and totally unready to rise when the alarm went off. We decided that maybe it is because no one SHOULD get up at that hour! Same concept.
ReplyDeleteThe word verification on that was RESTO - which struck me funny.
ReplyDeleteHa ha. Yes, that brings us the whole topic of how much sleep we need and whether or not we should be running around working as usual while it's dark outside.
ReplyDeleteWhat would happen if those in northern climates spent more time resting during the winter, providing their material needs were met?
On the other hand, working more hours in the summer doesn't seem to follow the same logic. :) Still, our bodies need rest. Often more than we get.