sol*stice & sun*power

Greetings, fellow sun worshippers. You may not consider yourself such, may even bristle at the thought of worshipping any not-God, even one as golden and brilliant as the Sun, but we cannot do otherwise than worship the Sun. She is the Engine of Our Living. She feeds the Plants which feed the Beasts which both feed Us. She steadily vaporizes Water so that Cloud may release Rain to quench the Plants and Beasts and Us. Each time we eat or drink, watch a passing Cloud, scurry the porch cushions inside before Wind and Rain assail them, we acknowledge Sun's power in our lives, whether we show or express our honor and admiration for her outright.

I think I'm saying we shouldn't take Sun for granted.
I think I'm saying we should celebrate her,
even if she is but a fiery ball of gases with no interest in our attention.
I think I'm saying we should, on this Summer Solstice, get ready for Sun Day. 

Sun Day is a day of action on September 21, 2025,

celebrating solar and wind power, and the movement to leave fossil fuels behind.
"Solar energy is now the cheapest source of power on the planet – and gives  us a chance to actually do something about the climate crisis. But fossil fuel billionaires are doing everything they can to shut it down. We will build, rally, sing, and come together in the communities that we need to get laws changed and work done."

Sun Day is scheduled for the Fall Equinox, organized by a coalition of grassroots organizations, clean energy experts, solar industry and worker organizations, schools, affordable housing, farmers, and creative partners.  "On Sun Day people everywhere will be showcasing solar installations, electric homes and vehicles running on clean power. Thousands of small events (think NO KINGS DAY) taking place on Sun Day will help accelerate the ongoing clean energy revolution: we have the technology and the solutions, all we need is to build the political will to scale-up and accelerate clean energy and make it accessible to all."  Maybe there's something you can plan to do? At the very least, go create a sun and share it!

My congregation has solar panels which were paid for through a loan and a "Commercial Solar Power Purchase Agreement (CSPPA) program developed by the Montgomery County Green Bank." Maybe your faith community also has a perfect roof just waiting to host solar panels! Maybe your community also has a "Green Bank"--a 501(c)3 nonprofit corporation dedicated to accelerating energy efficiency, renewable energy, and clean energy investment by partnering with the private sector to provide more affordable and flexible financing options for County residents and businesses for clean energy and climate-resilient projects."

We installed solar at our "new" downsizer 1925 house on the Summer Solstice last year (the date was a happy coincidence). We used an unexpected surplus from the sale of the bigger old house to pay for them, and have benefited from a rebate and a tax credit that reduced the cost. These rebate programs are in jeopardy, but many states and localities may still have them.

Solar power is energetic poetry: it just comes streaming in all the time and it's up to us, the creatives, to harness it momentarily now and then. Here's how I harnessed some sun power in 2016, in the midst of one of Laura Shovan's February Poetry Projects [found objects].  This is a repost from way back then!

Sister Sun Sets You Straight

You thought the all-powerful
was a god?  A hot-blazing,
fire-roaring, staff-wielding god?
Helios Apollo Huitzilopochtli
Surya Toniatuh Ra--
                          ha!  I am goddess.

I do not blaze so much as simmer;
I do not roar so much as sing
                             (some say singe);
I do not wield a mighty staff;
I waft my hair of flame.
I coax the sweetness out with legendary heat:
from soil and branch, maple;
from stem and leaf, strawberry;
from pod and bean, chocolate.

I forgive your errors--
my charms are hard to judge from lowly earth.
So every now and then I descend, all dulcet warmth
and eyelashes, to wink at humankind
from unexpected spots.
                         Don't forget the recycling. 

Thanks to our host, Carol, at The Apples in My Orchard for hosting the round-up today (and thanks, Sun, for the apples).