Over twenty years ago now, I read Under the Tuscan Sun by Frances Mayes, and I loved it. By that time in my life, I had been to Italy several times and had become enchanted with the people, the history, the art, the food, the list could go on and on. Through Mayes’ book, I found out about the Tuscan hill town of Cortona, and it sounded so wonderful I added it to my itinerary for my next trip. I wanted to see the piazza she lovingly wrote about, along with the house she restored, Bramasole. The name struck me. It means “to yearn for the sun.” When I did make it to Cortona the following summer, I was not disappointed!
As I’ve written on this site over the years, to me, sunrise is one of the most spiritual times of the day. Being a morning person since childhood (how that came about is a long story!), I’m almost always awake and moving, coffee in hand, before the sun sweeps over the horizon. I try to see the sun’s first rays every day. To me, that movement, which in reality happens so quickly, is a massive reminder that there is so much in life outside our control, and that every day we are alive is another day to make a fresh start, to be that person who God calls us to be. Yesterday is already in the past. We can’t change a thing about what happened yesterday, but we can have a mindset of making today matter.
Although you might find it odd, today is one of my favorite days of the year. Ben Franklin came up with the idea of daylight savings time. You might remember him from his saying, “early to bed, early to rise, makes a man healthy, wealthy and wise.” Well, daylight savings time didn’t really take off in the United States until the 1960’s, but now it’s pretty common everywhere. In addition to the change of our clocks, our days are getting longer. In case you missed it, they have been since December 21st, just before Christmas.
Friends, like it or not, here comes the sun. Right now, as I type these words, it’s still dark out and there’s no sign of what’s soon to come up over the horizon. As the name of Frances Mayes’ home in Cortona reminds me, I yearn for, not only the sun, but also the Son who makes it all happen. Make today matter, folks and make it a great day.
