New Every Morning

But this I call to mind, and therefore I have hope: The steadfast love of the LORD never ceases; his mercies never come to an end; they are new every morning; great is your faithfulness. Lamentations 3:21-23

I recently got to sit and watch the sun come up with a few of my favourite persons. Every time I see the sun come up and see things going from the dark of dawn to the brightness of day it makes me think of these verses in Lamentations. It is so strange that the Lord knew how very forgetful we are, and how much we would need reminders, and here is one! Each day we think of ourselves as one day older, but each day He is the same that he always was. He truly is the one "who was and is and is to come!" He calls all times know and today is the day of Salvation!

It makes me think of G.K. Chesterton's Orthodoxy. The gist of some of his pondering in arriving at orthodoxy was the conviction that apple trees need not bring forth apples because "that's just the way things are" but rather because God willed them to bring forth apples. And were he tired of seeing the apple trees bring forth apples than he could easily have them grow fully grown lynx cats! However, He continues to will them to make apples and that must mean that the Lord is not tired of apples! Like a child who sees the simplest trick and cries out: "Again! Again!" each apple is a miracle, and as much as we, in our thick chronological silliness can think we've tired of the miracle of apples, were we to examine it again we would find that the apple is too much of a miracle to tire of in the mere century that we live on this planet. We start to understand the joy of Katsimoto's sentiment in The Last Samurai: "Cherry blossoms. One could spend a lifetime looking for the perfect one and it would not be a wasted life." Then finishing the film as he takes his dying breath proclaiming: "They are all perfect."

This is how I feel about the sunrise. What a wonderful reminder that God hasn't changed since last night, but I have. I may feel that each day I come into existence and I can rightly feel that I enter each day a bit more conformed to the image of my Lord, but He is never changing, and his grace, mercy and love are inexhaustible. Each sunrise is evidence of the fact that the Lord is not tired of painting the sky each morning, and as long as He has me here on this planet I take it as my solemn duty to look at His miracles and say: "Again! Again!"

*photo by Jeff Maston www.thewindsweptsky.com Isn't it awesome?