Groundhog Day (February 2) has come to be a day of hope when we look forward to the end of winter and the start of spring. I’m sure you’ve heard of Punxsutawney Phil, the famous weather-predicting groundhog of Pennsylvania. In a tradition going back to the 1800s, if Phil sees his shadow on February 2, there will be six more weeks of winter weather. If he doesn’t see his shadow, spring will come early.
While Groundhog Day as we know it started in 1887, the tradition of using the conditions on February 2 to predict the next few weeks of weather goes back much farther. Halfway between the winter solstice and spring equinox, February 2 is also the Christian festival Candlemas, celebrating the date 40 days after Christmas when Mary would have gone to the Temple for purification and to present baby Jesus according to Jewish law (Luke 2:22). Tradition grew that a sunny Candlemas, signaled by animals like badgers seeing their shadows, meant cold, wintry weather for six more weeks. A cloudy Candlemas meant milder weather leading up to spring. German immigrants brought this tradition to Pennsylvania, electing groundhogs (aka woodchucks or whistle pigs) as the official weather-predicting mammals since they were native to the area. Groundhogs hibernate during the coldest months, so coming out of their winter burrows is a hopeful sign of spring.
The first official celebration of Groundhog’s Day in Punxsutawney, Pennsylvania was started by the Punxsutawney Groundhog Club and newspaper editor Clymer Freas. The group of groundhog hunters took the first trip up to Gobbler’s Knob in 1887, where the groundhog consulted unfortunately saw his shadow. Today, Phil (Weather Predictor Extraordinaire) confides the yearly forecast to the top-hat-wearing members of the Punxsutawney Groundhog Club’s Inner Circle in front of thousands of visitors at Gobbler’s Knob each Groundhog Day. While Phil isn’t the only weather-predicting groundhog, he’s probably the most famous.
Whether or not you believe in the accuracy of Phil’s predictions, Groundhog Day offers a welcome distraction from the long winter. It’s a milestone that’s halfway to spring, looking forward to the end of the dark winter days. Especially in northern latitudes where winter comes with less sunlight, short lengths of daytime, and marrow-freezing temperatures, winter really can be dark. The lack of light causes many people to suffer from seasonal affective disorder (SAD), a type of depression usually connected to the winter season. Even if you don’t have SAD, you may experience the “winter blues” or cabin fever.
Collectively, we’re also experiencing a rather dark, sad, and scary period of history at the moment. For a long time now, going out has felt dangerous, we’ve stayed closer to home and restricted our movements, we’ve limited contact with other people, and we’ve experienced ongoing stress. This can leave many frustrated, restless, grieving, and even lonely. Like winter, we wonder when it will end so our lives can get “back to normal.”
In winter and other dark times, little things like traditions involving large rodents can help cheer us up. But the heart of Groundhog Day is hope: hope that the winter will soon end and spring will come. Luckily, as believers, we don’t have to rely on meteorological marmots for hope. We know that no matter how bad things get in this world, Jesus Christ will someday return in victory and make everything right. Spring is coming! More importantly, Jesus is coming! In Romans 15:13, Paul calls God the “God of hope.” This isn’t an empty or futile hope—it’s an expectation rooted in trust. Trust is essential for hope. Paul says God will give us “joy and peace” as we “trust in Him.” In turn, we can share this hope with the rest of the world as it “overflows” in us.
This Groundhog Day and beyond, as Paul says, “May the God of hope fill you with all joy and peace as you trust in him, so that you may overflow with hope by the power of the Holy Spirit” (Romans 15:13, NIV).
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