And when it’s day to me, it’s night to someone

And when it’s night, you may not want to go on

                      – Mark Heard

For those in the northern hemisphere, today is the day after winter solstice. Last night was the longest, darkest night of the year, but the consolation prize is that starting today, every day gets a little longer as we get closer to the sun and head towards spring. For our friends in the southern half of the planet like South Africa, Australia and New Zealand, it’s the beginning of summer and each day is shorter than the day before. That’s because the earth tilts slightly, and on December 21 is when the northern hemisphere tilts furthest away from the sun, thus the longest night of the year, and the shortest night down under.

According the scientists, who have to have a scientific explanation for everything, a huge meteor shower bombarded the earth billions of years ago and pushed it off its axis. It’s amazing what you have to go through to explain things when you don’t have a God to just push the earth slightly with His finger because He wanted to create some variety in our lives with the seasons.

Just think, without that push, there would be no seasons — no migration of animals, birds and ocean life — just one identical day after another.

But here we are with the winter solstice and the longest night. It’s for this reason, and its close proximity to Christmas, that this day has birthed a tradition of “un-celebrations” called “The Longest Night” or “Blue Christmas.”

God tilted the earth for a reason. He wanted us to experience all of life — the good and the bad, summer and winter, the ups and downs that make up life. And God tilts your life and mine because He wants us to be able to relate to the full spectrum of experiences. Just as God came in Christ and experienced all of life so He could relate to us, so God wants you and me to experience the good, the bad and the ugly of life that we might relate to others and bring God’s grace to them.

So Merry Christmas no matter what hemisphere you inhabit, and celebrate where you are, and whatever God brings you to enrich your life. We don’t live for ourselves anyway; we live for each other. My experiences are for you, yours are for me. When you get beyond yourself, you can see a long ways.