I have become someone who treasures sunrise and sunset, and I cherish capturing images of each. This sunrise image occurs at one of my “thin places,” Perkins Chapel on the campus of SMU in Dallas, Texas.
Both sunrise and sunset capture a special type of Sabbath for me. Sure they are present every day, but that makes them easy to overlook. I believe some times God goes out of the way to present us with an extraordinary beginning or end to the day, simply so we will take notice. The fact is they are each quite lovely, but you have to attend to them. You actually have to make a place, make the time to notice them. Occasionally, often, you have to stop or go out of your way to be in that moment.
Some of my favorite sunrise and sunsets have been on a sailboat in the Gulf of Mexico or Inter-coastal Waterway. When the sun slips slowly into the water, and emerges on the other side, with nothing between it and you, except the water you are navigating. My friends and I gleefully discovered that the electronics on board also watch for sunrise and sunset, with their electronic background changing hues to match the time of day. Once, we watch sunrise on the instruments, and foolishly missed the real deal.
I have awakened early and hiked a couple of miles, to be in just the right place to spend those few Sabbath moments with God. It is truly the veil, being lifted on a new day or lowered on the closing of that day; it is being one with the thin place.
searchingforthinplaces 