As we hit the turn of winter, the mornings come later and the sunsets sooner. Hitting my morning walk gains more and more of changing colours.
This week in lockdown (yes, I reside in Melbourne, Victoria) has given me time to reflect on these changing colours, & whilst my routine walk route hasn’t changed, my frame of mind has.
Walking through the different mornings the colours are stunning; reds, blues, oranges and pink hues, all colours anyone who has stood still long enough to draw breath at a stunning sky, knows that a photo can never capture in justice.
Sunrise and Sunset
I am always awestruck at sunrises and sunsets. The daily ritual of the sky, waking to say good morning and waving goodbye to adorn the other side of the world everyday. This happens day-in day-out. It doesn’t need to be majestic and awe-inspiring and I am sure there are many of these I have slept through or missed in my lifetime. Yet, there is something breath-taking about the beauty of a sunrise.
My most memorable sunrise moments have been out hiking. Taking time to spend time in nature, rising (usually amidst a cold morning) early and hiking out to find a spot to sit and wait.
Sometimes they are not always awe-inspiring, sometimes it seems sunrises ‘just are’. ‘Just another sunrise’ and the sun doing it’s task of gracing our skies. To me I see God so evident in creation, and an artist at work in so many aspects. The sky being one of them.
Bloodmoon
Just a few weeks ago a ‘blood moon’ graced our skies, and for those in Australia, New Zealand and surrounding countries, we were able to see the eclipses’ entire duration. For many, we rugged up, embraced the cold and witnessed what happens when a full moon orbits with the sun directly on the other side of the globe. The reddish tinge, giving it the name ‘blood red’ comes from the bending of light around the Earth’s atmosphere as the moon is shadowed by the Earth in it’s orbit.
Psalm 104 is extravagant in its description of God within creation. It goes through elements of the world around us: wind, fire, flame, water, animals, humans, and how God has created it all. From the extravagant to the mundane in life the writer of this Psalm sees God in it all.
Life in the mundane
The sky for me is a reflection on life at times, sunrises and sunsets, a routine staple of the sky. They are sometimes elaborate, extravagant and worth pulling over in your car to capture.
In life I think our days are full of tasks that ‘just happen’. Washing the dishes, eating meals, making meals, heading to work, picking kids up from school, dropping them off to activities, hanging out the washing, bringing in the washing, folding the washing.
At times these activities can be a ‘daily chore’ and something to get done. Other times it seems all the elements line up for a memorable, meal, chat with friends and the school drop-off, or seeing your child at training.
In all of these daily interactions I believe we can see elements of God in life. Like the psalmist in Psalm 104, from the extravagant to the mundane. There is a song that echoes these musings Remember – by Bryan and Katie Torwalt.
How quickly we forget the God
Who lives in every day
How easy to lose sight that You
Reside in the mundane
This song reminds me that alongside the breathtaking beauty of daily life, God is also in the mundane. Jesus lived life in the world with us, knowing full well humanity – including the ‘mundane’.
As you head out this week, I hope you are awestruck at the sky, whether it be sunrise, sunset or a night sky, and reflect on the elements in your life, seeing beauty even in the mundane.
Kelly Thompson is the newest member of the Sports journalist team. Kelly currently plays AFL for Casey Demons in the VFLW, and practices what she preaches as a HOPE (Health, Outdoor, and Physical Education) Teacher in Melbourne’s southeast.