Morning glory
WATCHING A sunrise is good for the soul, especially now, with the horrors of nature so much in the news. Watching a sunrise over quiet water or dew-dampened land reconnects one with the well-ordered universe and incontrovertible laws of physics. What went down into darkness must now come up and touch everything in view with spectacular light.
How energizing it can be to rise before that light appears, to dress in the shadows, and then go outside to look eastward and wait. Sitting on a beach rock or barely moving in a canoe or kayak or simply watching from the front stoop, one anticipates the rising of the great morning star much the way one waits for the curtain to go up in the theater.
As is true for the audience at a compelling play, the sunrise audience does not merely observe, but experiences what is on stage, absorbs it, and often feels transformed.
The dark sky turns gray, then shifts into yellows and pinks and reds. Slowly one spot on the horizon begins to glow, as though a giant light bulb has been switched on somewhere on the other side of the earth. Then a brilliant red-orange sliver of fire pops up, followed by the glorious emergence of the entire blazing ball.
The audience is silent. Even if people are standing side by side, they usually do not speak. The moment is shared, but also quite private, for each person is moved in his or her own way.
The audience may gather again to look west at sunset, but that drama is different and can seem tinged with the sadness of a climactic farewell. The sunrise is a resounding ''hello," an invitation to begin the day, the project, the long-hoped-for change in a life's direction with a sense of renewal and hope. The sunrise is the spring of each day; the sunset is its autumn.
This drama never grows stale even though human beings have seen it for millions of years. Repetition is part of its power, for the cycle of darkness and light can anchor the turbulent mind and be as reassuring as the rhythm of the tides. Thinking about the people who have taken comfort in the dawn through the millennia is a meditation that lifts one beyond the immediate audience and connects with the whole family of man.
Watching a sunrise is an act of faith in the future. No matter how destructive nature has been, the calm will return, and man will rebuild and heal. That is the promise in every new day.
