Sunrise, Sunset

Since I not making money from printing the words, hopefully I’m not violating a copyright. Writing this on the 61 occasion of my wedding day, December 28, 1961, the marriage song from Fiddler on the Roof seems appropriate.

Sunrise, sunset
Sunrise, sunset
Swiftly fly the years
One season following another
Laden with happiness and tears

This week of the year always reminds me of a constant of life – change. That variance can be as simple as night falling and a new day coming or as momentous as a toddler pulling up next to a coffee table and then letting go to be transformed into a walker. In three more days, hands will lift to tear off Saturday, December 31, and we will have to pay attention to using 2023 as the final number on checks and contracts. Across the country, all have faced THE BIG FREEZE: in most places the temperature was a detriment to plants and, in some cases to lives. People who thought it was safe to travel again have ended up away from home, and worse, separated maybe forever from their suitcases. In the flow, almost without being noticed, December 21 heralded the Winter Solstice, the sun slowly moving toward the northern hemisphere beginning the line saying one season following another.

Laden is a very poetic word to provide an antonym choice of emotional provision. By definition laden means weighed down or even burdened. The tears I understand; however, can you imagine being burdened with having to face so much happiness. A good symbol is the one for yin/yang, curved and joined, offering balance between competing forces. Looking at what has been, the comment on the days has been true. Some memories are pulled out when I need a reminder of sheer joy. A few others need to go in a box with a tight lid. The new year coming up seems to stretch out with the vastness of 365 days. I face them with words to another song I cherish and you may have to look them up, the hymn “Day by Day.” Or, as a five year old friend says, “You go with what you get and you don’t throw a fit.”

From the rising of the sun to the place where it sets, the name of the LORD is to be praised. The LORD is exalted over all the nations, his glory above the heavens. who stoops down to look on the heavens and the earth?

Psalm 113:3