New Beginnings
Yesterday was my twenty-eighth wedding anniversary. Bonita and I went to Pine Mountain State Resort Park to spend the night and celebrate. This morning I decided to get up early and try to catch a sunrise. The scene that greeted me was beautiful. There was a river of fog flowing through the valley far below and the first light of dawn was quite lovely. I took a few pictures (including the one above) and then the light fizzled out. After this I just sat back on the rocks and spent some time thinking and praying.
Perhaps it was because we had just celebrated our anniversary–or maybe the fact that I had just watched a new day dawn– but I found myself thinking about new beginnings. When I was younger there was a popular saying that went: “Today is the first day of the rest of your life.” That is a truth worth remembering. So is the incredible message proclaimed in Lamentations 3:22-23 which tells us that God’s “compassions never fail. They are new every morning.” After recording this, the biblical writer declared: “Great is Thy faithfulness.” Every day I try to thank God for His new mercies and a new beginning.
Sunrises also remind me that God’s creation is ongoing. This is something John Muir wrote about. He said, “We live in ‘creation’s dawn.’ The morning stars still sing together, and the world, though made, is still being made and becoming more beautiful every day.” As I watched the fog flow through the valley this morning it did, in fact, seem like “creation’s dawn.” I couldn’t help but stop and pray, “Thank you, Lord, for new beginnings.
–Chuck Summers