Today’s the day. The sun comes to a slow stop from going southward and inches back up. I’m a little depressed but things will literally be sunnier from now until beyond the contentious SBCAM in June.
My fair locale has 9 hours and 53 minutes of sun today.
The farthest north I’ve ever been, North Pole, Alaska, has a meager 3 hours and 44 minutes of sun today. Gimme a handful of vitamin D pills, quick.
But how’s the SBC looking, metaphorically speaking, in regard to sunlight and darkness? From where I stare out at the gray, cloudy, chilly, leafless dimness it looks pretty bad.
I have a list of the top SBC stories of this year. You’ve got to go deep into the list to find anything positive and I’m not seeing much chance of a change in the short term. Look for the list next week. Something might happen before then. There is no Christmas truce from denominational infighting, witness this week so far.
On the other hand and alternatively to the gloom and doom, our Grand Convention has endured upheavals, turmoil, relentless criticism, and bad press since the beginning. We will manage and muddle through.
We Americans have always been able to ignore the gray winter, cold days, and long nights by ratcheting up Christmas stuff. There are fantastic light shows, one of the best near me is the Georgia State Botanical Gardens. I’ve been once and will probably go again. They have gourmet hot chocolate for $3 cup, with marshmallows and peppermint on top. No stadium prices here.
I’ve seen some of your Christmas church events. Splendid. But the best I know of is a Methodist church that had a concert featuring four grand pianos and a great organ. Almost makes me want to be a Methodista. Then again, some churches near me are canceling all services this coming Sunday, December 26th. Dudes! It’s the Lord’s Day! Looks like our run-and-gun hipster colleagues are blocking off more and more days of the year that they think it inappropriate to hold Sunday worship. I don’t get the concept.
As for me and my house, grandkids are coming over to make cookies today. I have an important role in that: I eat them.
Have a great Christmas season.
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To answer my provocative title question: No, the SBC hasn’t reached our nadir, our winter solstice.
And, yeah, that’s Stonehenge. Bunch of pagan rocks.
