God Painted The Sky

One of the things I love most about my daily commute is getting to watch the sun come up in my rearview mirror in the morning. This is a short-lived experience, only occurring for about 1-2 weeks in the spring and fall. Right now in the mornings, the sun is already over the horizon when I leave; in another week or two we'll be to the time when I get to watch the sky turn gradually go from the pre-dawn grey to ever-increasing tinges of pink and purple, and then finally to glorious shades of orange and gold as the sun breaks over the horizon and colour floods the sky. I love witnessing this phenomon; somehow whatever worries or stresses are bothering suddenly seem so insignificant.

Last week (Thursday, to be precise) I was driving to work, occasionally glancing in my rearview mirror to see the sunrise, as I always do. I had one of my favourite Rebecca St. James discs in the CD player, and I was listening to this amazing praise and worship song that's on it (for about the fifth time in a row). There's one point in the song where the music builds to a crescendo; at the very instant that the crescendo hit, I reached a placed on the highway where the trees give way to fields and the sunrise blazed across the sky, colouring everything gold and orange. All at once, the pain in my joints from the cool, damp morning, the stress over the piles of paperwork sitting on my desk, even the other cars on the highway, everything just dropped away. At that moment, it was just me and my Creator, and I was overwhelmed by such a deep, powerful feeling of peace and contentment that it actually gave me goosebumps. I was suddenly compelled to lift my hand in worship and praise to my God. The moment passed, but the feeling stayed with me for the rest of the morning.

"Every blessing you pour out I'll turn back to praise.
When the darkness closes in, Lord, still I will sing...
Blessed be your name."
("Blessed Be Your Name" - R. St. James, The Ultimate Collection, Disc 2)

TTFN!