Sunrise Over the Columbia

The steadfast love of the Lord never ceases; 

his mercies never come to an end; 

they are new every morning; 

great is your faithfulness. 

Lamentations 3:22-23 ESV

Sunrise Over the Columbia, 2020

Oil paint on canvas 15” x  30”

Last month, I was blessed with the opportunity to take a mini road trip. It was on this last minute excursion that God blessed me with the inspiration for this painting. I am not a morning person but my mind sparked awake at 6:30 A.M. the first day of my stay in town. Perhaps it was the anticipation of reuniting with a few of my long-lost friends or maybe it was a gentle nudge from the Holy Spirit rousting me from my sleep and calling me to consciousness, either way it was definitely out of character. As I lay in bed, the thought occurred to me that I might be awake early enough to watch the sunrise. I have heard morning people tell tales that this is a beautiful way to start the day. My mornings typically begin with unintelligible mutterings along a quest for coffee, nothing beautiful about that. 

I eagerly went to the window closest to my bed to see if I could catch a glimpse of the dawn. In a grand sweeping gesture I threw back the curtain… but alas, there was only darkness and vague dull silhouettes. Unimpressed, I returned to the comfort of my California king-size bed. No sooner had I gotten back under the covers, then I remembered the second window. What was hiding behind curtain number two? Could the view from this window possibly hold something different? My curiosity won the battle with my laziness. I repeated my experiment (with a little more caution and a little less flair) and lo and behold - God had the most amazing sunrise waiting for me! 

The soft subtle glow of the dawn was just beginning to erupt amidst a sea of darkness and a rainbow of colors was revealed everywhere the light touched. The view was perfectly framed in that second window as though the sun was rising just for me. As it turns out, the second-floor room I was occupying was situated on the corner of the building. The first window faced the north and only revealed the darkness, where the light had not yet reached, but that second window faced the east and had a picture-perfect view overlooking the Columbia river. I scrambled in the dark for my camera after returning my jaw to its upright position. :)

I knew I wanted to take my time with this image so I could do justice to this beautiful moment. Successful oil painting requires a certain degree of patience and restraint, as I mentioned in my last post. After two weeks of layering (and multiple drafts) I am ready to share the final painting with you all. 

This piece spoke to me on a lot of levels during its construction. The visual elements of this composition were obviously striking. The way the light seemed to reach out into the darkness bringing color and life to the landscape evoked strong parallels with God’s power in my mind. The light of the dawn eventually touched everything; there was no dark place that was unreachable and no storm cloud that could stop the sun from rising. Everywhere the sun touched a rainbow of colors was revealed; as though the colors were dormant in the dark but His light was required to activate the full potential of their beauty.

But it was a critical revelation regarding my vantage point that really hit home. This caused me to ask myself a lot of questions like: how often in my life have I missed God’s miracles simply because I was looking in the wrong direction? How many beautiful gifts has He had waiting to surprise me and I gave up after looking in just one place? And don’t even get me started thinking about how many spectacularly beautiful moments I have just plumb “slept” through! This was a very sobering thought process, for sure, but one that I found highly motivating for me to do better in the future. Thank God, His mercies are new every morning.

I found it very striking that both windows provided a view of the same event, happening at the same point in time, but each revealed dramatically different parts of the story. Simply trying again and pointing my gaze in the right direction offered a drastically different reward. Which begs yet another question - where are we focusing our gaze? Are our eyes fixed only on the darkness and, if so, could we be ignoring the beautiful miracles God has shining just beyond that frame?

These questions were a bit alarming and convicting to me. However, I was comforted by how the Holy Spirit nudged me to keep looking and how He rewarded my persistence. As if to say: “don’t stop with just one quick glance, look again, anything worth finding is worth a second look.” The Spirit’s encouragement was gentle and the reward was spectacular! If this moment has taught me anything it is this: don’t give up looking for God’s goodness and, whatever you do, don’t go back to “sleep!” Search for God’s miracles, seek Him, be persistent, and brace yourself for the beauty you will find.