By Ashlie Miller

Are you enjoying the gifts of the season yet? No, I’m not asking what you purchased on Black Friday or during the two weeks of sales before Thanksgiving. As much as I love Thanksgiving, I am not even talking about the time with family gathered around a turkey or a television screen filled with football games. 

Consider the gifts in the skies that this season brings! Meteorologist Brad Panovich posted on Facebook shortly after the change back to standard time that “Early sunsets are viewed by more people. Darkness also allows more viewing of astronomical events. It’s not all bad!” He also reminded followers that this is a return to standard time. Standard – as in normal. Yet somehow, we easily slip into discontent and remorse over what we have lost rather than seeing what we have regained. 

Seasons of nature are gifts from the Creator! When did you last watch the sunset with a child or an elderly friend who typically has an earlier bedtime? Each evening, a curtain is drawn to close the day and signal the beginning of a dazzling nocturnal display in the heavens. 

“We make ourselves present to delight in your handiwork, O Lord. We make ourselves present to revel in his unique, one-time display of your dynamic and infinitely-faceted glory.” (“A Liturgy for Sunsets” from Every Moment Holy by Douglas Kaine McKelvey, 2021.)

Many astral events occur late at night – I have a star-gazer who often asks to wake up at odd hours of the evening and early morning to look at the skies. But now, we can see some of them earlier. When was the last time you spread out a blanket or chair to take a look up? 

When was the last time I did? I will admit these early nights have me wiped out and loving the snuggly sensation of being wrapped up in bed with a book or magazine. Perhaps we could take just one evening a week to look up as the Creator meets us in the vast cathedral with ceilings covered in a breathtaking masterpiece! Rather than complaining about “kids these days,” maybe we woo them into the miraculous space met with wonder, praise, and gratitude, and there they rethink the allure of the hypnotic LED glow of portable devices as they watch a supernatural show in the heavens with us.

“O Spirit of God, draw praise from us here in this cathedral of creation, beneath this starry dome. Awaken our adoration in this place where we are so very small – and yet so greatly loved.” (“A Liturgy for Stargazing” by McKelvey.)

If we allow it, there is much awe that can capture even the most cynical spirit during this autumn season. In the busyness of the shopping season, see the gift of earlier nights and embrace them for the opportunities of wonder, praise, and gratitude they can provide, and consider sharing that with a loved one. 

Ashlie Miller looks for twinkles in the sky in Concord, NC with her husband, Chad, and their five children.