Does The Sun Still Rise If No One Sees It?
I can’t imagine that there is ever a day where the sunrise is missed by the entire world’s population. Between the different times zones and varied schedules of mankind, I don’t think it’s possible that even just one person daily sees the sun rise. The number must be in the thousands, perhaps even hundreds of thousands of people, or beyond greet each new day.
I have never been one of those people. I hate mornings in all honesty. I sometimes wonder what on earth God was thinking creating times earlier than 7:30 am, a time I prefer not to precede. This morning however, Friday November 21, 2008 I awoke at 4:35 am. I know, I know, I’m insane right? I’ll explain.
During our discipleship times right now, half the team is reading Exiles by Michael Frost and the other half is reading Searching For God Knows What by Donald Miller. I am in the half that is reading Searching For God Knows What and am loving the book. Donald Miller is a wonderful and wonderfully funny writer.
As part of our discussion on the book, the leaders decided to take us to a place called SuperTubes to watch the sun rise. SuperTubes is an area of the beach where the best surfing is generally located. It is quite beautiful, as all areas of the beach here are, and is ideal for watching the sun rise. When they informed us that we would be leaving base at 4:45 am however, I’ll admit I was much less than thrilled.
Wrapped in blankets and towels, we faced the ocean waiting for the sun to grace us with its presence. The morning had begun fairly cloudy and the hope was that the clouds would fade away. As tired as I was, I sat there in silence taking in the beauty of the waves. In my exhaustion, I was still able to feel God in His creation. A small section of the clouds began to show some color as we looked out on the water. The air was cool and the wind blew calmly as the clouds rest over the ocean. The color never broke through the clouds and the time at which we were supposed to see the sun came and went.
Did the sun not rise because we didn’t see it? Of course not! The day was still beginning and the whole earth knew it. It was easy to see once the sun rose, that even the waves were aware. They grew in size as the tide made it’s change. Seagulls dropped from the air into the water below, ready for their first meal. A family of dolphins peaked out of the crashing water and swam along the current, down the shore. All of this took place while we sat waiting to see the sun.
Our view was blocked, but the day still came. The sun didn’t need for us to see it to know what it was supposed to do. The day’s start didn’t depend on us. It could not be held back by our absence or hurried by our presence. Life went on, as if we’d never even shown up. Life also went on even though to us, it appeared as if the sun hadn’t shown up.
To think of all these things makes me feel pretty small. While that was one of many things I received from this morning, it wasn’t the greatest reminder. The greatest reminder was looking at all of this morning, taking it all in, and seeing again how much God loves me. If God loves the earth enough to make sure the sun rises and sets every day, if He cares enough to intertwine ever intricate part of creation in interdependence, how much more must He care about me? If He puts that much time into all that, I have to stop and think about how much time He puts into me. If God didn’t think of me this morning, I wouldn’t have been able to take yet another breath.
It’s always wonderful to be reminded just how much He cares for each and every one of us. I have to say though, I’m glad He speaks to me at any time of the day. That ensures I don’t have to ever again get up at that time to have a conversation with Him. 😉
