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The Equinox Will Come to All

The Equinox Will Come to All

Last updated on: September 22, 2016 at 5:29 pm by Mary Pezzulo

The Equinox Will Come to All 2016-09-22T17:29:14-04:00 Mary Pezzulo

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Once, I was looking at the comments on one of those memes about saying “Merry Christmas” instead of “Happy Holidays.” You shouldn’t do that; it’s always a waste of time. But I was rubbernecking and making my opinion known, as usual. Some people were pointing out that Catholics have many holidays around Christmas, so Catholics ought to say “Happy Holidays.” My friend who is both Catholic and Jewish pointed out that she has even more holidays. Then somebody said they were offended when a pagan told them “Happy Solstice” and “Happy Equinox.” To which somebody else said something along the lines of “There are no equinoxes in this house.”

What she meant to say, of course, was that she did not celebrate the pagan celebrations of Ostara or Mabon– and I apologize to any pagans reading this if I’ve gotten the names of the celebrations wrong. But, amusingly, what the commentator sounded like she was saying was that the vernal and autumnal equinoxes do not happen in her house. The solstices don’t happen either. In her Christian household, the sun always rises and sets at the same time and the seasons do not change. She, as a child of God, was not subject to the turning of the earth.

What an interesting thought.

Wouldn’t it be neat if being Christian, being citizens of a K ingdom that is not of this world, meant not being governed by the seasons of this world? Wouldn’t it be fun if Baptism meant the snow never fell on top of your car and the last bus on a winter evening never left you waiting at the stop after dark? If you had a little spotlight in times of darkness, as the Israelites apparently did in the land of Goshen during the Egyptian plague, and a little angelic parasol in times of intense sun? If the sun always rose for you when it was time to go to work, and always set when it was time to pray Vespers and go to bed?

God had a better idea.

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