Leaning into the Son's warmth

It's Deep Thoughts Thursday again . . .

A quick but sincere thought.  Right now we are in a pattern of pretty cold temperatures and icy and snowy conditions.  It seems like spring is still far off and the days of wearing T-shirts and flip-flops is forever away.

It is ironic, though that we are closer to the sun right now than we will be in the summer.  The way that the Earth's orbit travels we are farther away from the sun in the summer and closer in the winter.  The reason we feel warmer in the summer is because of our angle as we spin through space.  The angle is inclined toward the sun in the summer and away from it in the winter.  It is why temperate zones get seasons.

So even though we are closer to the sun in the winter we are not inclined toward the sun and so it feels cooler (and indeed is cooler).  But in the summer we are farther away but we are inclined toward the sun (so we are toastier).  It is like our area of the world 'leans in' and feels the sun's rays even though we are farther away.

Of course all of this only applies to the northern hemisphere (the opposite is the case for our friends in Australia).

Just an interesting note that regardless of distance, if we incline ourselves toward the sun, we can feel its warmth.  The same is true of our relationship with God.  No matter what we have done or how far we travel from God, the warmth of His love is easy to feel if we just lean into it.