The Ring of Fire

“Now may the God of peace, who through the blood of the eternal covenant brought back from the dead our Lord Jesus, that great Shepherd of the sheep, equip you with everything good for doing his will, and may he work in us what is pleasing to him, through Jesus Christ, to whom be glory for ever and ever. Amen.”
Hebrews 13:20-21

Happy First Day of Stage One Everyone! 🙂

We are SO excited to see 15% capacity of the church filled up again by all of you this Sunday and we eagerly await the day each and every one of us can safely worship together in person! We have been through a great time of darkness and today feels like a day of light breaking through even more.

Yesterday, I woke up super early (also known as normal time for some of you, haha) to see the solar eclipse! I’ve included some pictures here below for those of you who were not so… enthusiastic 😛

To the untrained eye, or y’know, the human one that can’t stare directly into the sun for extended periods of time… it looked like any other sunrise. The sun slowly crept up over the eastern horizon and took its place in the sky for another day.

And yet, the moon was perfectly aligned in front of it! For our location in Ontario, even with telescopes and proper filters, the moon never covered the entire face of the sun. For people in more northern places, they were able to see what looked like a ring of fire around the moon!

Despite where people were observing the eclipse, the sun’s brightness was never compromised. The sky did not go black because the moon overwhelmed the sun.

The timing of this solar eclipse is what made it especially remarkable to me.

On the final day of Ontario’s most recent lockdown (nearly 70 days long) there was a physical example of darkness being overcome by the light of the sun. Burning brightly in the sky above our province, a ring of fire (which will certainly conjure up some pretty painful memories for women who have given birth before) demonstrated that the sun would not be fully blocked.

Which does happen in a total solar eclipse… the moon can fully block the sun and the sky does actually darken! But that’s not the type of eclipse we saw. In an annular eclipse, like the one that just happened, the moon is too far away to fully block the sun.

How cool is that?! Right before our province entered stage one, we were witnesses to an astronomical event characterized by the sun outshining the darkness of the moon.

Many missed it. And, honestly, if I hadn’t happened to bump into an astronomy professor on my street, I would’ve missed it too – or suffered the consequences of stubbornly staring directly into the sun anyway.

Lifespring, we have been given the Holy Spirit to guide us through life. Pandemic or no pandemic, the Spirit of God is with us!

As we study the Word of God and pursue discipleship together, we are being equipped with everything we need! Whether it’s people who join us in our story at exactly the right moment or being blessed with wisdom or physical provisions that help us understand what’s going on better, God is in the details.

As we make every effort to grow in maturity, to press on despite times of darkness, we will be able to see so much more of what God is doing! Don’t get me wrong, God will continue working. Whether or not you’re waking up first thing in the morning to look at him, the Son will continue to be the Light of the World.

There is simply greater joy and deeper understanding as we set time aside to read his Word. There is strength that develops within us as we train ourselves to hear the voice of God speaking into our situations.

There is comfort in the lessons he provides… even when they require course correction.

As you head into the rest of Stage One, Day One ask the Lord what he wants to highlight for you. Make every effort to love your neighbours and to celebrate/enjoy lessoned restrictions wisely! Make every effort to breathe deeply and rejoice fully at the Light who overcame darkness for us.