Let the Sun Shine In

     Does anyone remember the song by the title "Let the Sunshine In"  from the famous musical "Hair" of the sixties?   One of the wonderful things about being in Arizona is that lots of sunshine comes streaming in most days.   Oddly enough, since this is the case, it is actually kind of nice when we get a cloudy or rainy day for a change.   I know this sounds weird to those of you who live where a clear sunny day at this time of year is more the exception than the rule.  But then, think how much more you appreciate the sun when it does shine all day!   

     Lately, I have been reading reports from health experts who are telling us that actually, its a good idea to be out in the sun every day for a half hour or so,  preferably in the morning or late afternoon, not mid-day.   I remember my mother used to advise me to put my babies naked in a patch of sunlight indoors if it was cold outside, or outside on a blanket in warm weather to get their daily "sun bath."   Apparently,  this is the best way to get the dose of vitamin D we all need, rather than with pills.  It is good for us in many other ways too, and experts advise us not to put sun tan lotion on, which screens out some of the benefits of those sun rays.  

     Letting the sunshine in metaphorically is a good idea too.  Too much gloom and gloom can cast a pall over our lives, and cloud our vision to all the good that is always there for us if we can only see it.   Just as the sun is always shining during the day, no matter how thick the clouds are that might be dimming its light,  so too the Good that is God is always shining in our lives, no matter how thick the clouds of trouble are.   They are temporary.  The Sun is not.

It is always shining with good possibilities, and radiant with promise.   If we can see this, we walk in the Light.  

      The two images of the sun on the walls of our home here celebrate the joy of "Heavenly Sunshine"  and the gift of Divine Light in our lives.  Or, as the old sunday school song puts it, "Heavenly sunshine, heavenly sunshine, flooding my soul with Glory Divine...."