Sunrise Sunset

“Vanity of vanities, says Qoheleth, vanity of vanities! All things are vanity!  What profit has man from all the labor which he toils at under the sun?  One generation passes and another comes, but the world forever stays.  The sun rises and the sun goes down; then it presses on to the place where it rises.

This quote from the beginning of Ecclesiastes reminds me of the song “Sunrise Sunset” from “Fiddler On The Roof.”  Some of its lyrics are:

Is this the little girl I carried?
Is this the little boy at play?
I don't remember growing older
When, did, they?
When did she get to be a beauty?
When did he grow to be so tall?
Wasn't it yesterday when they, were, small?
Sunrise, sunset, Sunrise, sunset
Swiftly flow the days
Seedlings turn overnight to sunflowers
Blossoming even as we gaze
Sunrise, sunset, Sunrise, sunset
Swiftly fly the years
One season following another
Laden with happiness and tears…

For those of us with more than a few years under our belts, these lyrics are poignant.  For those of us with children and grandchildren, and certainly me, these lyrics especially pertain.

Our lives have happiness and tears.   We thank God for both because they both mark lives that have been lived.   For many of us those lives were made extra special by those beautiful little girls and those tall little boys.  I say this with my brand new little granddaughter in mind – Evelyn Grace.

Deacon David Pierce