AUTUMN EQUINOX

Today, September 23^rd, is the Autumn Equinox in the Norther Hemisphere. It’s the Spring Equinox in the Southern Hemisphere

According to my sources, mainly the British Met. Office, the Equinox defines the transition between the seasons of the astronomical calendar. It is a key part of the earth’s orbit around the Sun. There are two each year – Autumn and Spring.

It occurs when the Sun crosses the path of the equator and is poised exactly between the Northern and Southern Hemispheres.
During equinox, day and night are about the same length (12 hours each).
The word Equinox means this. It is made up of two Latin words – ‘Equi’ meaning equal and ‘nox’ meaning night.
From today, in the Northern Hemisphere the darkness of night becomes longer as winter approaches.

This balance and interaction of darkness and light affects our daily life but it also affects our spiritual and physical life. Physically many animals slow down or hibernate. Our daily life is affected by darkness. Nature goes into sleep mode. Shortly the trees will drop their leaves and the buds of next year’s foliage and plants will be dormant. Physically we may become more lethargic and as the weather becomes colder, staying indoors is more welcome. Though we follow our daily life, our bodies would love to hibernate. That is a generalization, but spiritually we become more aware of nature, of the creative change of the world around us. At the beginning of this cycle, we often celebrate Harvest and we give thanks for God’s goodness towards us in the provision of food. For our ancestors the curing and storing of food was vital to carry them through the harsh winter months. This thought can remind us of those without food and who are coping with disaster in places such as Morocco coping with its earthquake; Libya with the floods; Ukraine with the evil of the Russian invasion. These are  but three of the needs we need to pray about and act upon. In the United Kingdom, poverty, financial hardship, and the need for Food Banks, remind us of our duty to those in need. We should add to that the plight of the world’s nomads, forced to flee their countries because of violence, imprisonment and the inhumanity meted out to them on a vast scale.
It is at a time of Equinox that we are invited to pray and act for a better world. A world where all are equal and a remembrance that every one of us owes our existence to our Planet Earth, which sustains us, and to our Creator God. All has been planned to be held in a creative tension which ultimately is not about who gains what territory and power, but to a finely balanced Universe over which we have no control or power; except, of course, the power of destruction in which we are all engaged at present.  We do and should have gratitude as the world turns and our life is altered for a time and a season. Thankfulness should be at the heart of everything we are and do.
A thankfulness which must embrace everyone who are tenants of the earth.

EQUINOX

Sun poised over equator
heralds the day of equal light;
equal darkness.

Earth catches her breath
in a moment of cosmic stillness,
bringing to mind the delicate balance
of solar existence,
of which we are but a small part.

Seasons turn in an astronomical process 
in which our human participation is not required.
We are the result of a divine plan, 
of an eternal equality over which we have no control.
This global moment is our reminder that
in our vast, unfathomable universe
we are of little significance.

Yet, in the heart of our Creator God,
we are loved and held
because of another Equinox,
not on the equator but on Calvary,
where darkness  became light
and a new direction was shown to the world.
It is called Love.
Together, with all on earth
we are invited to embrace it.

[Mr G. 23^rd September 2023]