I am not a morning person! One of my personal creeds is that a person should only experience the five o’clock hour once a day. But, ironically, on those rare occasions when I have risen early, I have found peace and quiet. One would think I would pursue such opportunities more.

One recent early morning I was able to catch the view on this blog’s masthead. Admittedly, it was not that early. I was at a retreat center at Lake Yale in north central Florida with The Geneva School’s upper school retreat back in August. Coming out of my cabin a few minutes before 7 a.m. the sun was just rising over the mist laden lake. I walked over to the outdoor chapel area and snapped the picture with my iPhone. You see what I saw and it was breath taking.

Below is another sunrise — from an early summer morning on Lake Erie (much earlier — about 5 a.m.). Being that far north, the sun rises quite a bit earlier. I was there visiting my mother for the last time before her death a few weeks later. One of the things that defines our humanity and sets us apart from the rest of creation as people made in God’s image is our tendency to see a setting like this and stop in wonder and awe. I tell people that though my border collie is smart, she never stops to consider the beauty of a sunrise or sunset. We are made to love beauty.

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