“And God said, ‘Let there be lights in the firmament 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 firmament 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; he made the stars also. And God set them in the firmament of the heavens to give light upon 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, a fourth day.” (Gen 1: 14-19)
This is one of the readings for today, the second day of Lent. It redirects me, just like the rest of Lent, to the “basics” of my faith, which I tend to take for granted. Today I’m reminded of the basic, yet awe-inspiring fact that God created changeability and change. And He called it “good.”
It is good for me that I experience God-given, physical transition and change all the time, which is beyond my control, – from night to day, from midday to evening, from one month to the next, from winter to spring, from youth to adulthood, and so on. Because total monotony in our physical world would feel like a window-less prison cell.
But God also gives me a capacity to change in ways I can choose, according to my free will. I can step into His light and grow in Him, or I can self-isolate and stay in the shadows, doing whatever it is I want to do over there, on my own. But the great, liberating fact is, I don’t have to do that. There is light, and today I can step right into it, in some heartfelt prayer and contemplation of His word. Because “the light shines in the darkness,” also in my darkness today, “and the darkness has not overcome it.” (Jn 1: 5)(This reflection is from our Lenten Guidebook, heretofore available only to Patreon-subscribers, but NOW available as a digital download here at our website’s Gift Shop!)
