By The longest day of the year is here – midsummer, the summer solstice. The sun is at his zenith, and we are called to mark the day; do not let it pass unnoticed.
In the large scope of things, our earthly existence matters little. The Stoics already told you this much; especially Marcus Aurelius was good for pointing it out tirelessly! Remember it the next time you get bent out of shape about something: Will it still matter tomorrow? In a week? In a month? Next year on the summer solstice?
Whenever I scraped my knee as a child or was upset about one thing or another, Grandma would always tell me: “By the time you get married, you will have forgotten all about it.” Grandma was wise.
For us, the sun rises behind a big old maple. We greet him every morning and are thankful for the new day with its opportunities and chances. We also remember that one day, winter will come without a spring that we shall ever see, as Tolkien put it.
For ages, this same sun as risen and set. He will continue to rise and set, with or without us, but we are part of this great cosmic occurrence, maybe more than we know, and certainly more than we realize if the material world is all we acknowledge.
The maple is pretty.
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