fearsome maker-gentle whisperer

I have been up early enough to see the sunrise these last couple days. The suns rise is rather repetitive, happening daily and all; you could cynically say that there is nothing special about them but you would be wrong.


Each sunrise is different and never to be repeated or duplicated again. It's guaranteed to no one that they will see tomorrows. All that is contained in the suns trek across the sky - the smiles, the tears, the love, the hate - can't be undone - that's good and bad.


The sun rises and it closes the chapter on the night - some of which are dark not just because light is absent. Lust, loneliness, despair - these are dark emotions and feelings that seem to become more pronounced at night. For some, making it through to the dawns early light is no small victory but a monumental one. (May we try to remember that the next time an unkind thought crosses our minds - we just don't know what or how heavy someone else's burdens are and how small the thread they're holding on to is.)


This morning I was looking at the sunrise and thinking of God's kindness and gentleness. The sunrise was a brilliant, fierce, sorbet colored delight. It made me feel small for a lot of reasons. One, a sunrise like that is certainly a sign of God's goodwill and great character because there is certainly nothing we have done to deserve such a beautiful gift. Two, it isn't something man can make. We can't make the sunrise, literally. Let yourself feel the beautiful smallness of that fact.


But it also occurred to me that on other places on this expansive marble we live on others aren't waking to this sight. A hurricane is barring down upon a sandy shoreline somewhere now. A lightening bolt is striking the ground and a booming crack of thunder is drowning out all else. A snowstorm is creating an avalanche of crushing ice and rock miles long.


God is a gentle whisper and a fearsome maker. Whatever box we try to put Him in or whatever frame we use to define Him is too small. We just don't and we just can't see all that He is. "Each of the four living creatures had six wings and was covered with eyes all around, even under its wings. Day and night they never stop saying: "'Holy, holy, holy is the Lord God Almighty,' who was, and is, and is to come." (Revelation 4:8).