No Ordinary Joe

This morning I sat on the back deck, admiring the sunrise on a quiet Sunday. It was a chance to reflect on the last two months, during which the world that we knew has changed so much.

And yet, it was that sun. It never ceases to fascinate me. This morning, I noticed the sun was rising in a completely different part of the landscape than it had several months ago. During Fall and Winter, the sun rises to the right of our house, where I can’t even see it actually break the horizon.

But in Spring and Summer, as the sun approaches its summer solstice, it rises at a point dramatically to the left of my normal reference point, which is a huge tree. Today, the sun rose well to the opposite side of that tree from Fall and Winter. Directly where I could see it and feel its warmth on my face.

I happened to be reading Psalms 113:3, which says “from the rising of the sun to the place where it sets, the name of the Lord is to be praised.”

It occurred to me how through all the seasons, no matter the violent tumult, the sun (or rather the earth in relation to it) is on a trajectory that doesn’t look stoppable any time soon. Everything else is pretty much stoppable as to what happens here on earth.

I recalled all the seasons I’ve lived through. The times of lack and the times of plenty. The times of longing and stress and worry, and how each stress trigger eventually went away in a relentless process like the sun’s.

I looked at how today’s sun cast a different light on the items around me on the deck. The way it side-lit a little bird’s nest. I saw shadows and details in that nest from the side that continually changed in just the seconds that the sun was in its eternal transit.

These days are a chance for all of us to see life in a different light, and to allow that light to come to us. Whether it’s operating a business, tending to relationships, or getting new inspiration, we have been given a wonderful chance to hit reset.

The heat of the day will come soon enough, when the sun will be directly overhead and there will be full activity and worries at capacity.

But this morning, let the light shine on us from this different angle, and let us be warmed by it.