The reality of the fall or autumn has fully settled in. With the fall come the misty, damp days in Basel. Despite high-pressure systems over Switzerland, it stays gloomy, misty and grey over Basel and over larger parts of the country that are below 700 or 800 metres. If you’re lucky enough to live at higher elevations, then you can enjoy clear blue skies and lots of sunshine.
The Swiss even have a saying about it: ‘Unten grau, oben blau’. Grey below, blue above. The only way to get some sunshine in these fall days is to escape to the mountains.
My house in the Netherlands has sun panels. With an app on my phone, I can exactly see from moment to moment how much electricity these sun panels produce. In that country there is only ‘unten’ and no ‘oben’, so you can guess what it implies: many grey days, even more than in Basel! Very little electricity production by those sun panels. And no escape to the mountains. On a sunny day in the fall, they still produce 35 kWh of electricity, on a really foggy day it is not even 10% of that.
Hear what the Bible has to say about reflecting God’s radiance. Paul uses some complicated sentences and sub-sentences, but this is the main thought:
Now if the ministry that brought death (the law) came with glory, so that the Israelites could not look steadily at the face of Moses because of its glory, will not the ministry of the Spirit be even more glorious? We all, who with unveiled faces reflect the Lord’s glory, are being transformed into his image with ever-increasing glory, which comes from the Lord, who is the Spirit. 2 Corinthians 3:7+11+18
Solar panels can only produce when the sun shines on them. The brighter the sun, the more electricity they produce. The greyer it is, the less the production is.
If we compare ourselves to the solar panels and God is the sunshine in our lives, we need to position ourselves well to be able to receive the sun rays and produce the juice. If we don’t regularly place ourselves fully in the rays, then don’t be surprised there is little ‘production’ that comes out.
Just one other thought. Not very devotional, but quite practical. If the sun does break through on a fall day in Basel, don’t wait to enjoy it! Don’t first finish your chores. Don’t wait for the ‘right moment’. Go out and enjoy those rays. Because it will be over before you know it.