A relative of mine and her family, live on Lake Sinclair. She often publishes stunning pictures of sunrise across the lake on Facebook. By contrast, while my home is surrounded by beautiful trees, I miss seeing the sunrise. I appreciate trees, and all the good they offer. But to see a sunrise, I must go to a different location. Every sunrise is unique; clouds, rain, temperature, and atmospheric conditions influence how a sunrise looks.
Most people love seeing a sunrise, especially a spectacular one. We see one and say, “Oh! Look at that beautiful sunrise.” And yet—-we know that the sunrise is a myth; the sun doesn’t rise—the earth rotates around the sun. That is a fact we all know. But who on earth would say, “Oh My! Look at that beautiful Earth Rotation!” As I’ve written here before, a myth is not a lie; a myth is a means of describing a truth; or a difficult-to-describe event, and gives a meaningful, or graphic representation of a reality.
Stories and symbols have a way of capturing the essence of experiences, or knowledge that hold them, not only in your heart, but also in history. Before written language, stories, or Oral Tradition, held all of human knowledge; transferrable knowledge and information became carvings on cave walls, creating symbolic language. In fantasy I think of a Neanderthal mother hovering over her little one. It is morning. Day is breaking. Over the horizon, in the East, a beautiful red, then orange, then bright yellow ball appears. There are no words. But as she holds her tiny tot to view the spectacular dance of the sun, she quietly whispers something to the tot. I do not know what she whispered, but we now call it sunrise.
Inspiration emerges—-sometimes bursts forth— in remarkable ways. It can come from long, intense study; sometimes from failure; Post-it Notes, Silly Putty, Velcro, have become brand household words. In a manner of speaking, they too, came from mistakes (failures?) We all, to some degree or another, find joy in every day experiences. Overlooking “sunrises” of life can drag us toward colorless living. You can see the contrast of colorless life as it transforms to joy and beauty—as dramatized in a scene from the Wizard of Oz: there is a dramatic change from B/ W to Technicolor! As a little kid, Katie, my granddaughter called B/W movies, “Gray Movies.” Without color, life tends to be joyless—-gray. Sunrises can lift us above our gray despair—turning what we call failure into a fascinating future.
Sunrise transforms. A dark night turns into day. New sights come into view. Despair is dissipated. Jacob discovered that truth. On the pivotal mission of his life Jacob awakened to a new sunrise. Sunrise was not specifically named, but it was then that he awakened from sleep, having discovered God’s Presence. He named the place Bethel—“The House of God.” or “The place where God is.”
For Christians, the sunrise on the third day after Jesus’ crucifixion was the dramatic turning point. Jesus’ crucifixion left his followers in deep despair. Their world had crumbled; the end. Then—just at sunrise on the third day, some women went to the tomb. Since sundown—the beginning of the Jewish Sabbath, burial preparation was not allowed. Now at sunrise, following the Sabbath, they hurried to prepare the body appropriately. Then. There, in that Sunrise—everything changed! The rest is history—-and the Present! How’s that for a sunrise!?
© Copyright Willis H. Moore
I will never see earth rotation the same after reading this post. I could see myself there. This topped my sunrise on I-20 East going to Augusta one early morning.