Days in our week are a mish-mash of Greek, Roman & Germanic gods. SUNday our first day, MOONday and SATURNday have obvious connections to neighbouring planets. The Roman Empire’s first day was Emperor’s Day. Imagine re-naming Sunday ‘Boris Day’, ‘Nicola Day’ or ‘Queen Elizabeth Day’? For Christians Sunday is ‘The Lord’s Day’, celebrating the day on which Jesus Christ rose from death to life; we might even call it ‘SONday’.

Recent sunny days produced much wailing, with complaints of insomnia, sunstroke, sun burn and sapped energy. It’s not like Scotland to enjoy such soaring temperatures! I’m a factor 50 sun cream man and had my Aussie wide-brim hat firmly on. I found it hard to summon energy and enthusiasm for work, but you’ll not get me complaining. Indeed, I thank God for The Sun, which beams light and heat into our world to bless us with life.

At the centre of our Solar System, the Sun is a nearly perfect sphere of hot plasma, a hot ball of nuclear fusion and glowing gases. The Sun has a diameter of around 864,000 miles (109 times Earth’s). It can take between 10,000 and 170,000 years for light and heat to escape from the Sun’s core, which is about 4.6 billion years old. Cultures around the world have associated the Sun with their most important deity for good reason! Without the Sun’s light and energy, we wouldn’t exist. Earth’s interactions with the Sun drive the seasons, ocean currents, weather, climate, radiation belts, and aurorae. Though there are billions of stars in the galaxy, our Sun will always be our most special star. At its core, the Sun is about 27 million degrees Fahrenheit / 15 million degrees Celsius. Meanwhile we (everything on planet Earth) travel around the sun at 30km / second, or 67,000mph! I’ll take my various internet sources word for it, but it’s all too much for me to take in.

This I do know for sure: We are held on this fast-spinning planet by much more than gravity. How many times have I heard people misquote Jesus, “Aye Rev, the sun shines on the righteous!” WRONG, here’s what Jesus really said, describing the Grace & Gravity which holds each one of us on this big ball of earth:

‘This is what God does. He gives his best—the sun to warm and the rain to nourish—to everyone, regardless: the good and bad, the nice and nasty. If all you do is love the lovable, do you expect a bonus? Anybody can do that. If you simply say hello to those who greet you, do you expect a medal? Any run-of-the-mill sinner does that.

⁴⁸ “In a word, what I’m saying is, Grow up. You’re kingdom subjects. Now live like it. Live out your God-created identity. Live generously and graciously toward others, the way God lives toward you.”’ (Matthew 5:45-47 / MSG)

Everyday we need the ‘Sun’ for light and heat, and even more we need Creator Christ who fashioned the sun for our benefit, source of living Light & Love. It’s easy to lose our weekly bearings and forget / miss the importance of Sunday / SONday as primary day of the week, opportunity to re-centre on the ‘one in whom we live, move and have our being’. St John in Revelation (1:10) was found ‘in the Spirit on The Lord’s Day’, and every day, as regular as sunrise, we’re called to tune into ‘Son of God’, aided by prayer, Bible and ONE ANOTHER’S encouragement. Rain, hail or shine, God wants to shine blessing in, to and through you, my friend!