I think my favorite book of C.S. Lewis’ Chronicles of Narnia is The Voyage of the Dawn Treader. Not only is the book a fascinating depiction of the church, the title alone is worth acclaim – “Dawntreading.” What a great image for the call of the church.
From the beginning of time sunrise has always been a time of hopeful beginnings. Whether you are on the beach and get up early enough to see the ocean brighten up in glorious anticipation of the new day or in the mountains and watch the sun’s first rays tiptoe across the mountaintops and slide down into the valleys, there is something mystical about witnessing the beginning of the day.
The early church caught a sense of that. The first baptisms usually took place on Easter morning, just as the sun was rising. The tradition symbolized the resurrection of Jesus as well as the beginning of a new life in Him. Thus, there is something about sunrise that is divinely appealing to followers of Jesus. From disciples who journey to Mount Horeb, the traditional site of the giving of the Ten Commandments, and get up in the dark so that they can climb to the top of the mountain to greet the morning, to the numerous sunrise services that take place on Easter morning or other mornings, Christians have been drawn to these glorious beginnings of the day.
Perhaps that would be a good discipline for us – to get up in the dark and prayerfully await the rising of the sun. It would be a helpful and hopeful prelude when we might consider the fact that the coming day is a gift from God. We should receive it as such and use it with wise joy. I think I am going to set my alarm right now. There’s a new beginning about to take place, and I don’t want to miss it, do you?
No comments:
Post a Comment