What time does the sun set? That question has dominated my Google search history of late. This past summer, our son, at ten years old, reached a glorious stage of childhood where he was granted the independence to ride his bike around the neighborhood with friends, as long as he returned by curfew.
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“God called the light Day, and the darkness [God] called Night.” - Genesis 1:5a
“The light shines in the darkness, and the darkness did not overtake it.” - John 1:5
Following the Summer Solstice, however, the timing of sunset has been gradually creeping into his free time, as I have insisted that he return home by sunset regardless of the hours left until his set curfew time. This has resulted in an ongoing debate between my son and me—what time does the sun set? And, what really counts as “sunset”?
My son believes that sunset refers to that moment in time when the last glimpse of the sun’s light has disappeared from the sky (nightfall). I, on the other hand, stand firm to the dictionary definition of sunset as that moment in which the sun disappears below the horizon, which is followed by a gradually less illuminated period of dusk ( before which my son is expected to be home). This distinction is crucial as we attempt to establish, together, what counts as being out “after dark.”
Until parenting a ten-year-old with a bicycle, I confess, I had never thought so much about Light and Dark. The Genesis text makes it sound deceivingly simple—there is Day and there is Night. Yet, experience tells us that the cycles of the sun are a far cry from such a clear dichotomy. Living into the middle space of twilight as I negotiate with my son how much light is sufficient for his ongoing adventures, however, has helped me to come to a newfound appreciation for the cycles of Light and Dark and, perhaps most generatively, all that lies in between.
To that end, as we approach the Winter Solstice, I do so with increasing awareness of the presence (and absence) of light in our world. And so too, with a growing discomfort with drawing clear dichotomies between Light and Dark. Indeed, in a world in which conflict is forever sown through such dichotomies, I’m struck by the cohabitation of Light and Dark that the Johannine evangelist celebrates in his prologue (John 1:5).
A page from God's Holy Darkness
As a child and young adult, I remember reciting John’s words in Advent worship as we approached the Winter solstice, envisioning a divine duel between Light and Dark in which Dark sought to completely obliterate Light. However, as I read these words today, I wonder whether the reverse could just as easily be intoned at the Summer Solstice—The dark dwells in the heavens, and the light did not overtake it. After all, as Sharei Green and Beckah Selnick remind us in God’s Holy Darkness, a poetic journey through the beauty and goodness of the Dark in and through which God creates, the night is just as holy as the day. It is the balance and harmony of the two that holds us together in the diverse and beautiful world that God has made.
As we in the Northern hemisphere enter this season of increased darkness, my son’s bike time with friends may have diminished, but we celebrate together as a family the new gift of increased time together around the fire and in the soft lights of our home at the close of the day instead.
It is a reassuring gift to know that our faith community’s Christmas celebration is, at its heart, a celebration of the balance between Light and Dark—of God’s holy presence and balance in the midst of the world we inhabit and the lives that we live. Nor is this celebration unique; the Christian celebration of Light in Darkness in one among many Winter Solstice observances that treasure the beauty and balance of God’s created world.
To celebrate the gift of this season with your children, consider the following books for further reading:
