”The
heavens declare the glory of God, and the sky above proclaims his handiwork.
Day to day pours out speech and night to night reveals knowledge. There is no
speech, nor are there words, whose voice is not heard. Their voice goes out
through all the earth and their words to the end of the world.” (Psalm 19:2-5)
If you ever traveled on a west-bound airplane like me, you have probably been stunned by the fact that the sun never seems to set. This is because the hour in each time zone is one hour earlier than the time in the adjacent zone to the east. We know that when it is night on one side of the globe it is daytime on the other side.
This is so fascinating with regard to the
Christian Church who exists and works all over the world. It is really a Church
that never sleeps. As we pray our evening vespers, some of our sisters and
brothers in faith have their morning devotions and yet others are praying at
noon. It is as if we are in a relay race, we pass the baton to the others, and
then we can go to rest in safety. The psalmist wrote:
We
thank Thee that Thy church, unsleeping,
While
earth rolls onward into light,
Through
all the world her watch is keeping,
And
rests not now by day or night.
As o’er
each continent and island
The
dawn leads on another day,
The
voice of prayer is never silent,
Nor
dies the strain of praise away.
The sun
that bids us rest is waking
Our brethren
’neath the western sky,
And
hour by hour fresh lips are making
Thy
wondrous doings heard on high.
(J Ellerton
1870)
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