With the recent blanket of white snow lingering and a couple of sunny days, it is easy to forget that we are still in the time with the longest nights of the year. The above photo is of this week's waxing crescent moon. Today, the sun rises at 7:27 a.m. and sets at 5:35 p.m., giving our lattitude about ten hours of daylight and fourteen hours of night.
There are many references to darkness in the Bible, often referring to evil and taking the wrong path. An example is Proverbs 4:19: But the way of the wicked is like total darkness. They have no idea what they are stumbling over. A more lighthearted reference to darkness can be found in Psalm 104:19-20: He made the moon to mark the seasons, and the sun knows when to set. You bring darkness and it becomes night, and all the beasts of the forest prowl.
Even though Greensboro is working its way out of a hard week of true winter and it was as if the whole city was at a standstill, as we consider Psalm 104, we are reminded that the light and dark are purposeful. The waxing crescent moon is the prelude to 14 hours of darkness, merely a way of marking the seasons. Nothing says winter like single digit temperatures, nine inches of snow, and extra hours of darkness.
Happy wintertime! Happy Sunday- where the very word has embedded in it the moon's bright counterpart!
A beautiful shot. We're probably getting a good hour less of sunlight here- I know the sun's still setting before five at the moment.
Posted by: William Kendall | Sunday, January 21, 2018 at 01:49 PM