"The Day's Beginning"

from Dietrich Bonhoeffer's Life Together

"The Old Testament day begins at evening and ends with the going down of the sun. It is the time of expectation. The day of the New Testament church begins with the break of day and ends with the dawning light of the next morning. It is the time of fulfillment, the resurrection of the Lord."

I was called to a stranger's bedside early one morning in a hospital room with east-facing windows. This person had done things the hard way - in many ways - and now all the pain and all the loss and all the darkness of the night before were eclipsing even the hope for healing (Malachi 4:2) or the promise of joy (Psalm 30:5). But, as I listened and as we spoke, a strange and wonderful thing began to happen. The sun came up over the Lehigh Valley, bringing with it all that we were needing to hear and to say - so we stopped talking. After awhile, in the light, I turned and said, "You know, the sun also rises."

"Yeah," this kind soul smiled and we laughed together at my cheesy plagiarism. "It does."

It felt a little like Easter.