Wednesday March 29, 2006
Sun worship
The coming of Daylight Saving Time this weekend makes the days seem longer. I want to head outside, to soak up as much sunshine as I can.
It\’s a peculiarly northern obsession.
If you travel to the tropics, you\’ll find pale-skinned northern tourists frying in the sun wearing as little as possible but sunscreen while local people hold their picnics in the shade.
In his book The Pagan Christ, author Tom Harpur suggests that all religions obtained their original notions of divinity from the sun. Consciously or unconsciously, they recognized that without the warmth and light of the sun\’s nuclear furnace, there would be no life on this earth.
The ancient Egyptians worshipped the sun god, Ra. The sun also figured importantly in Mesopotamian civilization, among the Aztecs and Incas, in Indo-Iranian Mithraism, in Japan…
But most religions soon moved beyond sun worship, and visualized a superior deity whom even the sun obeyed. In the magnificent poem that opens the biblical book of Genesis, Jewish theologians imagined a divinity who created not just the sun but the whole universe.
But ancient concepts persisted. Psalm 19 compares God metaphorically with the sun. Psalm 104 is even more specific: “You cover yourself with light.”
Still shaping perceptions
I can\’t – offhand – think of any world religions that still worship the sun. But I wonder if their daily experience of the sun continues to shape their ideas of God.
In the north, for instance, the sun is changeable. It rises higher or lower through the seasons; it is often hidden behind cloud.
Similarly, northern churches seem more likely than tropical churches to explore the absence of God, the loss of an ongoing relationship with God, the angst of wondering who we are and why we\’re here.
The annual cycle of seasons in the north suggests recurring opportunity. Maybe next year, even if this year\’s harvest fails. We have confidence that warmth will return, even after a bitter winter. That seems to me to parallel our affirmations about a forgiving God who loves unconditionally, and will never abandon us totally.
If we lived in the deserts of the Middle East, we might have different perceptions. Because the sun there is unforgiving. It judges the foolish and the foolhardy harshly. It can be ruthless. It is unchanging and inescapable…
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For a lighter look at ethics, faith, and life, I recommend Ralph Milton\’s weekly e-newsletter Rumors. You can subscribe to it at the Wood Lake Books home page in Ralph Milton\’s Site, or by sending a note directly to ralphmilton@woodlake.com.
It\’s also worth pursuing Richard Fairchild\’s United Online site. Another site worth visiting is David Keating\’s \”SeemslikeGod\” page.
Is that, perhaps, why Islam stresses rigid obedience? And why, according to some scholars, the dominant theme of Judaism is righteousness – both as conformity to the Law, and as avoidance of God\’s displeasure?
Does the burning of the sun incline the southern U.S. states to form a conservative Bible belt, while the northern states and Canada are more likely to be liberal, both politically and theologically?
I don\’t really know. The only faith with which I can claim any familiarity is the north European version of Christianity.
Regardless, I\’m glad the sun is returning, after having turned its face away from me through most of the winter. My gratitude overflows.
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Copyright © 2006 by Jim Taylor. Non-profit use in congregations and study groups permitted; all other rights reserved.
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