The Dreary Winter and Glimpses of Life

The two interns that I work with recently put together a Bible study on Creation for our student leaders to lead, and a text that they referenced was Jeremiah 31:35&36. This passage when read with its context, may provide some insight into the reason why the winter in Pennsylvania often seems bleak.
"Thus says the LORD, Who gives the sun for light by day And the fixed order of the moon and the stars for light by night, Who stirs up the sea so that its waves roar; The LORD of hosts is His name: 'If this fixed order departs From before Me',declares the LORD, 'Then the offspring of Israel also will cease From being a nation before Me forever'."

I read through this once, and it seemed clear that the sun, moon, and stars governing the day and night, and the seas roaring as a gravitational effect from the moon are all ordered by God, as he called them into being with His Word (This is not a statement on creation and evolution, simply on the creator nature of God). Upon further investigation, these created things we witness may have another purpose. The Lord speaks previously about the new covenant that will be written on the hearts of men, rather than on stone. There seems to be a shift in focus, to verses 35 and 36, but 35 and 36 may speak to the creation being a signpost pointing to the faithfulness of God to His covenants with His people.

Why is this significant? Paul Harbeson, the outdoor guru of the Coalition for Christian Outreach's Outdoor Leadership Team speaks of watching the hands of a watch go round to signify phases of life, and a story that often repeats itself, that will end in redemption. Similarly, these 2 little voices sing a chorus of praises to God's faithfulness to his covenants. They speak of the sun, moon, and stars giving peace because we can always be sure they will rise, and when they don't, we will be fearful that we will be no more.

This is absolutely significant because what if, by some sovereign phenomena, God has ingrained in human beings the understanding of his faithfulness through the sun, moon, and stars? It is well documented medically that when people do not receive a good dose of sunlight, they can get what is called "seasonal depression." This depression comes because the people do not receive vitamins that are absorbed from sunlight. Maybe, in addition to the vitamin absorption, we are mentally stagnated by not seeing the sun due to cloudiness or overcast conditions (PA during the majority of winter). We do not experience the symbol of God's covenant daily, and we are rightfully sad.

Further on in the winter season, we experience the overcomoddified holiday of Christmas, and people celebrate by covering their house in expensive little lights, and often put silly things in their front yards. This has been called the festival of lights, and maybe there is a huge reason people get so much joy out of the Christmas lights. Maybe these lights were originally intended to cast a vision of what is to come in a season of bleak skies. They were a bunch of little lights, pointing forward to the coming of the sun. Maybe, little white Christmas lights were intended to mimic the star over Bethlehem, which was just a taste of the light that was brought to the world in Christ's birth.

Maybe all of this is just a reflective daze. I don't really feel anything when people decorate their houses, but at some point, before America and Hallmark forgot about Jesus at Christmas, maybe the lights that people decorated with had a greater significance: to point forward and remind people of the covenant God has with His people.

So is seasonal depression related to not experiencing a symbol of God's covenant due to cloudiness and snow? Maybe. I like the thought that we are wired to experience God's design in nature as a part of our wellbeing. But we may only get that answer sometime down the road, when God is light for all of creation.

Peace,
DEW