Reflections From the Sundog of Winter
As temperatures plummet to -30°C and your face freezes off after a minute, fingers sting like they’ve been run over by a truck and you get to the point where you think to yourself, “what beauty is there right now?” It feels easier to complain about the frozen tundra rather than see its beauty but it is in that moment when God reveals His beauty in the middle of your complaint… the famous sundog.
What is a sundog?
A sun dog (or sundog) or mock sun, also called a parhelion (plural parhelia) in meteorology, is an atmospheric optical phenomenon that consists of a bright spot to one or both sides of the Sun. Two sun dogs often flank the Sun within a 22° halo.
What does this have to do with me and why does it reveal God’s beauty?
You see, when I saw this sundog I stopped everything and just stared. I couldn’t take my eyes off of it and it was in my dazed stare something clicked (or should I say was revealed). The Sundog looks a lot like, or reminds me of, the Holy Trinity. God the Father in the middle as the bright sun, Jesus Messiah at the right hand of the Father, and the Holy Spirit on the left. Now you may be thinking, “that seems like a stretch” and maybe you are right. But while contemplating this reminder of my God I was no longer in complaint mode over the frozen tundra of death, but rather feeling all the warmth from the sun as I felt the warmth from God and all His mercies towards me in my life. In that moment I could feel the presence of God in the Father, in the Son, and in the Spirit.
Fulcher of Chartres, writing in Jerusalem in the early twelfth century, notes in his Historia Hierosolymitana (1127) that on February 23, 1106
... from the third hour (9 am) until midday, we saw left and right from the Sun what looked like two other Suns: they did not shine like the big one, but smaller in appearance and radiance they reddened moderately. Above their circle a halo appeared, shining very brightly, extending in its breadth as if it were some kind of city. Inside this circle a half-circle appeared, similar to a rainbow, distinct in its fourfold color, in the higher part curved towards the two aforementioned Suns, touching them in an embrace of the Sun. 1
I love this observation by Fulcher. A kind of city as he describes it — almost as if each piece of the sundog were intricately connected yet still distinct when looking at it. Just like when I think of the Trinity. Each having their own distinction yet being intrinsically connected into the same essence. The whole Triune God connected in a way that displays His radiance and glory so magnificently that the only way to describe it is that all 3 persons (Father, Son, Holy Spirit) are covered overhead by a halo and going like a rainbow of beauty. All embracing one another and then shining forth to a speck of a person like me.
When we see the sundog we usually brush it off as a cool event in the midst of winter, but maybe this year you see the sundog a little differently. Rather than just brushing it off as a cool weather phenomena, maybe this year you are reminded that the Holy Trinity (Father, Son, Holy Spirit) is the God who is in pursuit of you. That He is the God that loves you and is faithful to fulfill His promises. That in the midst of the freezing temps, hurting fingers, and defeated morale — He is there to warm your heart, recenter you back to Him and remind you of His powerful love. As you see the sundog may you KNOW that God the Father sent His Son (Jesus) to save you and bring you into His family. And Jesus gifts to you the Holy Spirit who lives inside you and moves in and through you. Each person in one essence covered in that magnificent halo of their glory… you know, kind of like when looking at the sundog.
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