I love early morning. It is my favorite part of the day. I woke this morning to the spectacular New Mexico sunrise you see above.
Waking at 8:00 or 9:00 and jumping straight into busyness and demands causes me to be disoriented and muddled throughout the day. In the rising sun, I find fresh hope and am able to anchor the rest of the day in that hope. Whether I am on the couch watching shafts of light poke their way through the trees, or driving east toward Waco as the sky fills with hues of orange and yellow, or sitting in a hotel room with a single window that fills with light, I am looking for fresh hope.
In the early morning, before the phone starts ringing, the clock demands that I be somewhere, or the day gets hot, I am able to settle my heart in and renew my mind toward hope. In looking eastward, I acknowledge that my hope lies in Jesus Christ. And while I hope in his coming at the end of time, I look for him to come today, as I call aloud the names of my children and grandchildren, speak words of hope for my students and friends, and mentally walk through the approaching day.
The dawning of a new day reminds me that I can start again with new, fresh hope. Whatever darkness I have lived through in the night can be chased away. I see the majesty and glory of the Creator in the sunrise and am assured that there is hope – fresh hope for today.