Pastor’s Corner: I Have Seen the Sun Rise

September 2, 2020

I am back home, and I have seen the sun rise.

I frequently do. The years have turned me into an early riser, or perhaps an earlier riser, and my window faces east. Readers of The Weekly Chime or viewers of What I’m Thinking have become accustomed, I suspect, to the occasional sunrise photo or time-lapse video appearing.

I went on vacation amidst the prospect of a local rise in COVID-19 cases. I return to find the increase well under way. I overheard a conversation a few days ago recommending that people “stay away from Hilo.” It’s what we’ve been saying for months about Seattle or New York or Florida or Honolulu. Now it’s us.

To the ancient people of Israel, night came with the blessings of sleep but also with countering hazards. Hunting animals took sheep in the night, and so did ill-intentioned human beings. Brigand bands and hostile monarchs struck at night. Walled cities placed people on the battlements to watch for raiders, straining their eyes against the shadows.

That is the background of Psalm 130’s longing verses:

I wait for the LORD, my soul waits,
                and in his word I hope;
my soul waits for the Lord
                more than those who watch for the morning,
                more than those who watch for the morning.

I do not know how long this night of COVID-19 will last. I do not know how many will fall ill. I do not know how many we will grieve. I do know that we do and we will long for the LORD; we do and we will long for the morning.

It will come, my friends. I know because I have come home and I have seen the sun rise.

With aloha,

Pastor Eric