If you are in a place to see the sunrise – and if you are able watch to it every morning – you would discover that the sun comes up in a slightly different place every day. Then if you were to mark those places over a longer period of time – say several years, you would see a pattern. The sun rises in a slightly more northern place every day throughout the summer and fall. Then, during winter and spring the pattern reverses and the sun rises in a slightly more southern place every day.
We have designated four points in that pattern to be of importance: the most northern extreme, the most southern extreme, and the two points exactly in between – there are two depending on which way the sunrise appears to be moving.
When the sunrise is at its most northern extreme, that day is called the Winter Solstice or first day of winter. When the sunrise is at its most southern extreme, that day is called the Summer Solstice or first day of summer. The exact midpoints are called the Autumnal Equinox – first day of autumn, and the Vernal Equinox – first day of spring.
Actually, the sun doesn’t move north and south at all – It’s simply a tilt in the Earth’s axis that make it appear to move.
These four days mark seasonal changes in weather that are among the most fundamental forces driving life on the planet. Life would not exist without those constant changes.
Incidentally, in 2023, the Summer Solstice happened June 21 at 9:58 a.m. CST – and the Winter Solstice will happen on December 21 at 9:27 p.m. CST.
How did such precision come about? The first book of the Bible gives us the answer …
And God said, “Let there be lights in the expanse of the heavens to separate the day from the night. And let them be for signs and for seasons, and for days and years, and let them be lights in the expanse of the heavens to give light upon the earth.” And it was so. And God made the two great lights – the greater light to rule the day and the lesser light to rule the night – and the stars. And God set them in the expanse of the heavens to give light on the earth, to rule over the day and over the night, and to separate the light from the darkness. And God saw that it was good. And there was evening and there was morning, the fourth day.
Genesis 1:14-19
Each of us a unique spiritual being residing in a physical body. That physical body is born individually, it dies individually and the spirit it contains stands before God every moment as an individual being. No matter how large a group we find ourselves in, our relationship with God is one on one. Therefore our worship and each of our styles of worship must be accordingly unique. That concept is developed and expanded in the book “Worshiping Alone” available on Amazon or Barnes and Noble. If you haven’t read it, please consider doing so.
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God Everyday 