Play again

The sun and moon will be darkened (Joel 3:15)
It's official. This spring was the sunniest on record, and by some margin. The Met Office records show three sunniest springs as 1990 with 591.8 hours, 1948 with 594.3 hours and well out in first place 2020 with 695.5 hours. I have no idea how they measure these things. I mean, how can you claim to measure sunshine accurately to 6 minutes over the whole country over a whole month. Whoops a cloud just passed, let's knock 30 seconds off the total. But I do believe them. It's been quite extraordinary. So one has to ask oneself what it has been like for the more than 2.2 million who have been confined to barracks for virtually the whole season. For many of us the sun has been shining and then some, but for them the sun has been darkened so no wonder the government has let them out. Ironically just in time for it to start raining, but that's English weather for you - normally.
Joel's concern with sunshine is rather different. It is his way of expressing the horror of finding oneself on the wrong side of God's judgement. It has been a symbol throughout history of the loss of God's blessing. It even gets into Tintin, though it most memorably appears in Matthew, Mark and Luke's accounts of Jesus' crucifixion. In the three hours before his death darkness comes over the land and even, in Luke's account, 'the sun stopped shining'. It is seen to be a symbol of Christ's abandonment on the cross, as he cries 'My God, my God, why have you forsaken me', or by some of the separation between Father and Son as Christ takes on himself the sin of the whole world. Though the gospels are not unique in referencing the event, they do seem to be the source of the other accounts, so one has to be careful about how literally to take it. It is not a solar eclipse for they last minutes not hours. It could be a solar storm of some kind, or possibly a local phenomenon. It could be symbolic, as Joel's seems to be, a fulfilment even of Joel's prophecy. Personally I trust Luke enough to take it at face value, though the Gospel writers could well have meant it symbolically.
But why be concerned? Well just as darkness can be taken as a symbol of a curse, so may not sunshine be taken as a symbol of blessing. Without in any sense making light of the terrible loss we have suffered as individuals and as a country, maybe we also need to rejoice in the chance to receive again the pleasure of getting outside and enjoying the sunshine, while it lasts, and not feel the least bit guilty. Stay safe, stay socially distanced, but also discover again the spirit of the child in us. Let's learn to play again. The kingdom of God belongs to those ready to receive like little children and I'd not be at all surprised if the joy of the earth does too.

A field in the sunshine

Location: United Kingdom

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