I recently became aware of the hymn “I watch the sunrise” https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=vm-A5NlkI8U I confess that I had never picked the hymn and was totally unaware of its existence, it a beautiful hymn and that is why I have taken the liberty of including the link to a YouTube file, it’s worth listening to, in my opinion. The hymn transports me back to the late 1970’s when sunrise was a prominent part of my life.
I was a teenager at the time and was travelling the length and breadth of the country during January and February in an effort to sell children’s duffle coats in preparation for the following winter. Every Monday morning, I would set off from Leeds station to travel to another part of the country, where I would meet up with a sales rep and work that area for a week. I noticed at that time that I would catch the train in Leeds in the darkness and more often than not, arrive at my destination in the daylight. It was at this time as I raced through the countryside at 125mph (as we did in those days) that when travelling south, dawn broke faster that if we were travelling north, which I found quite interesting.
Sunrise took on a new meaning for me not long before we left Bradford as a family and moved to Norwich. As hardy Yorkshire folk, we had Sunrise Services on Easter Sunday morning, when a group of us would make our way to a high point and worship God as the sun rose. I can remember my final sunrise service when there was thick fog and we had to assume that the sun rose because we drifted gracefully from black, to a dull grey.
One of the memories that I frequently recall was standing at the end of Undercliffe Cemetery and looking out over the city of Bradford as the sun rose, marking the dawning of a new day. Watching the sunrise on Easter Day is particularly fitting because this is the day that we remember the Son rising, Jesus conquering death and paving the way for two thousand years of Christianity, it is important to mark the occasion.
As I listen to the haunting melody of the hymn I mention, I recall the significance of the first Easter. The disciples have got used to travelling around with Jesus, witnessing his miracles, hearing his profound teaching, learning from him, and gaining new insights in how to live. Their world must have fallen apart as the sky turned black on Good Friday; it must have felt like it was all over as Christ said those words from the cross “it is finished!” and yet the darkness of loss is turned into the bright, glorious sunshine of a new day, a new way, and hope is reawakened in them. Let us be people who live in the light of the new day.
Christ is risen! He is risen indeed! Alleluia!