Fear Not, The Sun Also Rises

The sun rises no matter the chaos in the world. It will rise no matter the outcome of an election.

For the past year, I have been attending 7 a.m. daily Mass at my local parish. On these autumn mornings when I set out for the church, it is still dark. When Mass ends about a half hour later, I and my fellow parishioners walk out into bright daylight. It has become a reminder that no matter the chaos enveloping the world, the universe quietly goes about its work. Night passes and day comes.

Many of my friends have been calling or emailing expressing anxiety about this week’s upcoming election. They worry about who will win the presidency and the Congress. They worry whether there be violence. They say they can’t sleep at night. I’ve had a few sleepless nights too. Then I remind myself that no matter who wins, night will pass away and the sun will rise on the day after the election, and the days after that.

As the Book of Ecclesiastes wisely tells us (and Ernest Hemingway reminded us too): “One generation passes away and another generation comes. But the earth abides forever. The sun also rises and the sun goes down and hastens to the place where it rose. The wind goes toward the south and turns around to the north. The wind whirls about continually and comes again on its circuit.”

In other words, the universe goes on.

This week, to settle my own anxiety, I volunteered to knock on doors for my choice in the presidential race in the swing state of Wisconsin. Hundreds of people showed up to canvas in a section of Milwaukee. There were so many, in fact, that I wondered if I would even receive a list of houses to canvas. Many of the volunteers, like me, had driven in from Illinois to help. They were young, old, middle-aged, black, white, Hispanic, Asian — a cross-section of our country.

I was paired in my canvassing assignment with a delightful retired Middle School teacher from the Chicago suburbs named Sue. As we drove to our assigned neighborhood, Sue related how a relative who lives near Asheville, N.C. told her of the help the community received from strangers who arrived from out of state in the aftermath of Hurricane Helene.

A group of West Virgina miners repaired a 2.7-mile stretch of an important road. State officials had said it might take months to make the fix the road because of the immense amount of damage that the hurricane left. The miners fixed the road in a week.

A group of Amish carpenters from Lancaster, PA — who know a thing or two about building things — constructed a series of “tiny homes” that now serve as temporary residences for people who lost their homes in the storm. The Amish eschewed being interviewed on TV for their volunteer efforts. They wanted the focus to be on the people who suffered devastating losses.

No matter who wins or loses the election, the reality is that there will still be good people who engage in acts of kindness. Strangers will still reach out to help strangers.

Amish community members from Lancaster PA help to construct “tiny homes” as temporary residences for people in the Asheville, NC area hit by Hurricane Helene. (Photo courtesy of Friends of Swannanoa, NC)

In a beautiful poem called “Remember,” former U.S. Poet Laureate Joy Harjo, a member of the indigenous Muscogee Nation, asks us to keep focused on the common bonds that unite us — what really matters. I offer it as a prayer for the coming week to keep us grounded no matter what happens in the November 5th election.

Remember

Joy Harjo

Remember the sky that you were born under,
know each of the star’s stories.
Remember the moon, know who she is.
Remember the sun’s birth at dawn, that is the
strongest point of time. Remember sundown
and the giving away to night.
Remember your birth, how your mother struggled
to give you form and breath. You are evidence of
her life, and her mother’s, and hers.
Remember your father. He is your life, also.
Remember the earth whose skin you are:
red earth, black earth, yellow earth, white earth
brown earth, we are earth.
Remember the plants, trees, animal life who all have their
tribes, their families, their histories, too. Talk to them,
listen to them. They are alive poems.
Remember the wind. Remember her voice. She knows the
origin of this universe.
Remember you are all people and all people
are you.
Remember you are this universe and this
universe is you.
Remember all is in motion, is growing, is you.
Remember language comes from this.
Remember the dance language is, that life is.
Remember.

This passage from the Book of Ecclesiastes reminds us that while most things pass away, the universe remains constant in its workings.