Feature Profiles
28 June, 2026
Warmth from sun heats up Solstice
BRRR!! The last three weeks or so has impacted us with the coldest weather so far this year.
BRRR!! The last three weeks or so has impacted us with the coldest weather so far this year.
This is a reminder that on Sunday - June 21 - we in the Southern Hemisphere had our “winter solstice”, the day with the shortest hours of sunshine for 2026.
Much snow has already fallen on the Australian Alps this winter and the skiers are loving it!
Cold air masses are flowing up from near Antarctica dropping the temperature significantly and giving us showers of rain across the countryside and blizzards on the mountains. It feels like a good old fashioned winter!
After the winter solstice we will experience slowly lengthening and warming days until December 22 which is the summer solstice, the day with the longest hours of sunshine.
How amazing is the impact of the sun on planet earth. Its size is incredible.
Scientist, Russell Griggs, reminds us that “if you wanted to fill the sun with earths, you would need one million of them”. The sun is made up of white-hot hydrogen and helium gases. The temperature at the sun’s surface is about 6,000ºC, while at the centre it is over 15,000,000ºC.
No wonder we on planet earth are impacted by the sun’s light and warmth 150 million kilometres away!
I am often reminded of the warmth of the sun because one of my chores on the farm I was raised on many years ago was milking the house cow before going off to school. It was nice when the sunlight began pouring its warmth onto me in the cowshed on those very cold winter mornings.
I am sure the cow appreciated it too! I also saw sunrises so spectacular that I was left in awe as I milked the cow by hand into a large bucket.
During winter we generally have more cold fronts moving further north which provide the high cirrus and alto cumulus cloud which refract and reflect the rising sun light and thus produce spectacular sunrise colours.
Cropping and farming in general can be very challenging because we live on a sin damaged planet now – sometimes we have droughts, sometimes flooding rains but indeed earth is a “Privileged Planet”.
Earth is just the right distance from the sun, the positioning of the moon gives the earth axis stability and tidal movement helping cleanse the oceans.
We have just the right components of gases in our atmosphere – eg 21 per cent oxygen, the right balances of land and sea and the gift of life itself.
The 23.5 degree axis angle of the earth gives us our seasons. The list goes on and on leading many scientists to say there is a “Master Designer” – making this planet just right for life.
The Bible says – “For this is what the Lord says— He who created the heavens, He is God; He who fashioned and made the earth, He founded it; He did not create it to be empty, but formed it to be inhabited—He says: “I am the Lord, and there is no other”. (Isaiah 45:18)
The universe around us is so complex and amazingly designed it leads an astrophysicist like Dr Paul Davies to write, “The equations of physics have an incredible simplicity, elegance and beauty. That in itself is sufficient to prove to me that there is a God who is responsible for these laws and responsible for the universe”.
Former Macquarie University lecturer, Dr John Dickson was asked on an ABC Q&A television program, “How do you know there is a God?” John replied, “The complexity and beauty of creation - and He has revealed Himself through His Son, the Lord Jesus Christ”.
Whether in the midst of winter or summer, each day is a wonderful gift.
Be grateful for the gift of life, use each day wisely and well and give thanks to the Creator of all good things.
* Bruce Stewart regularly preaches at Wedderburn Church of Christ and is a former pastor at Boort Baptist Church
Read More: Loddon Shire