SHARE:  
Light in the Window - May 17, 2022
Why I Wake Early by Mary Oliver

Hello, sun in my face.
Hello, you who make the morning
and spread it over the fields
and into the faces of the tulips
and the nodding morning glories,
and into the windows of, even, the
miserable and crotchety–
best preacher that ever was,
dear star, that just happens
to be where you are in the universe
to keep us from ever-darkness,
to ease us with warm touching,
to hold us in the great hands of light–
good morning, good morning, good morning.
Watch, now, how I start the day
in happiness, in kindness.
We live close enough to walk to Lake Erie for the sunrise. Most mornings my husband thoughtfully sends me a picture of it when he stops by on his way to the gym. I’m usually up early enough, but I like to have a cup of coffee before I go anywhere, and I often get so caught up in my reading that it’s too late by the time I arrive at Huntington Beach after a few miles with my dog Molly. I greet the sun anyway, no matter the time, and offer my prayer of thanksgiving to the God of all creation.

Sometime soon, I hope you can find your way to a sunrise. Send me a picture if you can or send it to someone who can’t get out to see it. Go with someone you love, even if it is just you and Jesus. Give yourself enough time to get there before the dawn. Remember the women of Easter, who came prepared for what they thought would be a ritual of death but turned out to be the Power of Life itself, unstoppable, eternal, even alarming.

Stand quietly, honestly, in all your beautiful and raw humanity in front of that mystery, and praise God with your whole being. Easter comes to us, again and again, even if we don’t know what to do, what to make of God’s resurrection ways. Even if we feel lost, or alone, or overwhelmed by the pain in the world. Again and again, the sun rises. And some days, that is enough.

Psalm 113:3, “From the rising of the sun to its setting, the name of the Lord is to be praised!”

Pastor Jessie

P.S.- See the video below for a lighthearted moment. If you heard my sermon last Sunday, you’ll understand.
Church of the Covenant | Website