Marking Time

I was thinking this morning about time...
"And God said, 'Let there be lights in the expanse of the sky to separate the day from the night, and let them serve as signs to mark seasons and days and years, and let them be lights in the expanse of the sky to give light on the earth.' And it was so." (Genesis 1:14-15, emphasis mine)

God created the concept of time, and it is a very good gift. We see it in the apparent movement of the sun, in the phases of the moon, in the changing weather. These huge -- astronomical -- shifts are reminders that each moment is unique and temporary. The world will never again be quite like it is in this moment... or in this one... or in this one... Recognizing the passage of time can create a healthy urgency to make the most of each moment we're given.

Along with a sense of change, these same signs provide a sense of stable consistency. It is snowing pretty good right now, but I trust that warm weather will eventually return. Night has fallen, but I have full confidence the sun will come up again soon. At 7:25am tomorrow, in fact. The cycles of time give me hope, reassuring me of new starts.

Truth be told, I am not enthusiastic about the cold. I am grateful, though, for time, and for seasons to mark it. That alone is worth some blizzardy weather.