Day 2, January 2

I'm currently away from my home in Loveland, Colorado and visiting my sister, who lives in Sandy, Utah. This is the land of the Mormon Taberncale Choir, Temple Square, and green Jello studded with pineapple chunks. (This is not a peculiarly Mormon dish, but we have raised it to an art form.) It is also the home of the inversion effect where a bowl of gray sits over the Salt Lake Valley during the winter months, defying any sunlight to pass through.

When errant rays of sun make their way through the gray, it is a cause of rejoicing. Yesterday, the sun dared to shine, gilding the recent snow until it glowed. I felt my spirits lift with every speck of gold radiating from above.

Doctors tell us that sunlight is an important and much-needed source of Vitamin D. My spirit tells me that it does much more than provide an essential vitamin. Sunlight is a blessing from God, a benediction upon the day. Without it, I feel anchorless.

I wondered why that should be so. Is it simply a case of SAD (Seasonal Affective Disorder)? Like many others, I suffer from that. Or could it be more?

I love to play with words. Anagrams, word searches, crossword puzzles--they all fascinate me. Could the word "sunlight" hold a deeper meaning? Could it be that "sunlight" is synonymous with "Sonlight?" That by basking in the sun, I am also basking in the Son? That I am feeling His love when the sun touches my face?

It is a question to ponder. Certainly this comparision is not original with me. Many have put forth the same metaphor. Yet I had never before applied it so intensely to my own life. (I'm a late starter in many ways.)

Sunlight. Sonlight.

So, for today, I am grateful for the sun. It goes without saying that I am always grateful for the Son.