My little cottage is near the eastern end of a row of six narrow cottages. None of us have fences to speak of, so at sunset I can stand in my front garden and look across all the gardens at the flowers and shrubs and the setting sun. Over the years, I think I’ve seen every colour in the sky from this humble and familiar vantage point. At sunset I begin to understand David’s words, “the heavens declare the glory of God; the skies proclaim the work of His hands.”
I love this time of day, when the sun has set, and I come back inside to settle down for the evening: the time-honoured routine of turning the lamps on, opening a bottle of wine, and choosing music to listen to while I think about making dinner. There’s a scene in a movie I love where a country man talks about the end of the day. He says, “Nothing like rocking on your porch around twilight-time. Your bones just go as limp as a willow tree. The shadow from the mountain makes its way up my steps like an old friend coming to visit. And the stars… that’s the only thing that’s crowded… Right now, the sky would be plum full of stars.”
I recall the verse in Isaiah, “Raise your eyes on high and see who has created these stars, the One who brings out their multitude by number [and] calls them all by name.” Even in the dark night sky – the stars give their testimony to a God who made them and names them. I can’t help but think of God making His promises to Abraham underneath the stars: “Count them if you can. So shall your offspring be.” Promise – even at nightfall, even in dark skies.
For me, the close of day, heralded by sunsets or stars: reminders of the God who sets everything in motion. An invitation for me to slow down, to stop carrying the burdens I’ve collected during the day, and remember the One who “flung the stars into space.” There’s an ancient Celtic reading about Saint Aiden, the 7thC bishop of Lindisfarne. It reads, “Aiden, you held back nothing, no reserve in your giving to Him who gave all for you. All you asked in your journeying was a place of quiet to gaze into the face of God. You have come at last to the Source of all Wisdom.” Paul says, even God’s invisible qualities are visible in the world He has made. We see sunsets and stars, God’s glory set in the heavens. We look up and meet God there. “He is nearer to us than we think,” as Brother Lawrence says. And from my front garden, looking up at the skies, I know he’s right.
Paul explains how in Jesus we see the image of the invisible God. Lilias Trotter urges us, “Turn full your soul’s vision to Jesus, and look, and look at Him… and the Divine attraction… will lay hold of you. For He is worthy to have all there is to be had in the heart that He has died to win.” First and foremost, gaze on Him. Jesus has been saying it for two thousand years: “come to Me, all you who are weary and carry heavy burdens, and I will give you rest.” Take time out in My presence to rest, and to lay your burdens down. Real rest from your burdens.
It’s not always that easy though, is it? Nightfall used to be the hardest time of my day. I’d arrive home like a cross-country runner finishing a race after everyone else has long-since packed up and gone home! No one to witness my limp across the day’s finish line. No witness it seemed to the troubles of my day. No one to greet me with Missy Higgins’ words: “lay it all down, put your face into my neck and let it fall out. I know, I know I know. I knew before you got home…” Laid low by another day, arriving home just in time for the loneliness to kick in. Not looking at sunsets or starry nights. Not looking up, but looking down. To which God says, “Turn around and look at Me for rescue. I stretched out the heavens, I spoke it all into being with My voice, I named the stars, I make the seasons and the rhythm of days. Even a sparrow doesn’t fall to the ground without My knowledge. It was I who made you, and know you. I know how to put you back together. I know the burdens you carry, and the words you need to express… Come to Me then, all you who are weary and carrying those heavy burdens, and I will give you rest.” And I’ll keep on repeating it until you do…
So, these days, at nightfall, even on those occasions when clouds have obscured the sunset and the stars, or I am simply too bent double from the day to think about looking up, somewhere in that old routine, as I go about my house lighting lamps and settling down for the evening, I make sure I consciously lay the day down at His feet. Handing over the day that is passed to a God who is already familiar with all of it, and has arms big enough to carry it all. Homesickness, rejection, loneliness, pain, mistakes, longing, tiredness, and tears – quite literally nothing is beyond His remit or power when it comes to caring for me. The sunset and stars bear witness to that.
The movie quote is taken from “Big Business”
“Hands that flung stars into space” is taken from the hymn “The Servant King” by Graham Kendrick
Celtic Daily Prayer is published by the Northumbria Community
“Practicing the presence of God” is by Brother Lawrence
Visit liliastrotter.com for more information about her life in ministry
“Lay it all down…” is from “Nightminds” by Melissa Morrison Higgins
Scripture refs. Psalm 19:1, Is 40:26, Gen 15:5, Ro. 1:20, Ps 8:1, Col 1:15, Mt 11:28, Is 45:22, Is 40:22, Gen 1:3 etc., Ps 147:4, Ps 104:19-22, Mt 10:29, Ps 139:13-16, Jer 17:14, Mt 6:31-32, Ps 139:4, 1 Pet 5:7.