Apricity as Divine Encounter

Apricity as Divine Encounter

I was in Calgary in the dead of winter. The sun was brilliant and deliciously warm on a cloudless day. I went outside for a walk around the block and was suddenly stung by the intense cold and a minus 50-degree wind chill. But when I stopped and turned my face toward the sun, there it was – a soothing warmth. I thought “What a contrast.”

There is a word in the English language for what I was experiencing, the word Apricity. You may have never heard of it, but you have experienced it. Apricity is the warmth of the sun on a cold winter’s day.

Apricity is a theological experience common to those of us who follow Christ. The coldness of life is what William Cowper (pronounced “Cooper”) referred to as “a frowning providence” in his hymn “God Moves in a Mysterious Way.”

Ye fearful saints, fresh courage take;
The clouds ye so much dread
Are big with mercy and shall break
In blessings on your head.

Judge not the Lord by feeble sense,
But trust Him for His grace;
Behind a frowning providence
He hides a smiling face.

When life turns cold, we instinctively judge God’s nearness and goodness based on our circumstances. We may have experienced “a frowning providence” at a doctor’s visit, a fender bender, an unexpectedly large bill, or a rift in a friendship. The common denominator in all of these is a feeling of dread. “Where is God in all of this?”, we might ask.

As Cowper in his poem so too St. Paul in his words in Romans chapter eight guides us to see through our less than admirable circumstances and view God behind the cold. “And we know that in all things God works for the good of those who love him.” (Rom 8: 28). There is purpose in the coldness. “Conformity to his Son” and the warm experience of God being “for us” are his “smiling face” in the dread of circumstances.

The best place in life to meet God is at the end of our rope, or in the frigid conditions of life. What are they for you? And what are they doing to your faith? Look past the unpleasantness of your circumstances and rest in the warmth of God’s comforting presence. Indeed, he hides a smiling face but it’s smiling at you.