Every Sunrise Tells a Story — Clouds Are the Conflict Turning Ordinary into Extraordinary

Digging deeper into the meaning of “Everything happens for a reason”

We often ignore sunrises — yet, our hearts, minds, and souls run to them. The newest science and psychology shows it’s because of the daily burst of colors.

New University of Washington research shows light “wavelengths” at sunrise and sunset impact our brain centers, improving our circadian clock, our moods, and even alertness.

“As the earth turns, the level of illumination ranges across many orders of magnitude, from starlight to full daylight,” Harvard Medical researcher Michael Do says, explaining the way sunlight impacts every living cell. “There’s so much excitation that the cell can’t keep up, and it goes silent.”

All cameras come out. We stop and stare. Switching your camera to “time-lapse” mode shows the “hidden story.” As the sun overcomes a big mass of clouds, you see the purpose of all stories: Overcoming conflict.

The beauty of ordinary things: Conflict helps the sun sparkle

The most important writing tip for aspiring authors, writers, and journalists is that a story without conflict isn’t a story. It’s just information. Give the story some conflict, and everyone pays attention.

When the light hits the horizon, we instinctively know something important is happening. Our productivity sharpens because we see the story changing.

Natalia Brusco of the Daily Californian argues: “Watching the sunrise is like watching a beautiful pastel-colored sky be painted above you… Each day, we are gifted with this sight, allowing us to become enamored by our world’s wonder and beauty.”

Conflict, like suffering, gives the author something to overcome, making the story into something that inspires, moves, and motivates people. Why is there so much suffering in the world? Just ask the best writers and the ultimate author (the author of you).

Conflict is essential to every story. You see it at both sunrise and sunset. Something big and powerful is coming (to me, it feels like the face of God looking right at us), but clouds (conflict) get in the way:

• On what we call “a sunny day,” the clouds seem to hide, and the sun shoots right up. We look, we smile, and we move on.
• On what we call “a cloudy dark day,” the clouds seem to take over, the skies are gray, but deep down, we know the sun is still there somewhere doing things, just hidden from view.
• The miracle of sunshine on a partly cloudy day? We get to see the whole story in action. The plan unfolds. The light overcoming darkness. Does God wink?

Biblical? The true meaning of “everything happens for a reason”

Ever read the Greatest Story Ever Told? The Author has a definite plan and somehow makes our stories part of His Story, aka history. Even when we try our hardest to fight the plan, He finds a way to fit everything into the story.

Watch everything happening on any beach at sunrise, from the movements of clouds and sun to people and birds, sun, wind, and water, and how deeply they all fit together. They clearly show each is a puzzle piece of a perfectly executed plan in motion.

“Everything happens for a reason” isn’t quite in the Bible, even though that phrase perfectly sums up the Christian belief that God created the Universe and everything in it, with a plan for each of us.

At least 47 different Biblical verses say something similar, including one that was so powerful it became the basis for one of the greatest music hits of the 1960s:

“To every thing there is a season, and a time to every purpose under the heaven:” (Ecclesiastes 3:1, KJV).

We learn everything happens for a reason in the Old Testament, that stories keep repeating themselves in our big human family, how our hearts plan one way. Still, the Lord establishes the steps (Proverbs 16:9), that God says, “I know the plans I have for you” (Jeremiah 29:11).

St. Paul the Apostle explained, “we know that for those who love God all things work together for good, for those who are called according to his purpose.” (Romans 8:28–30 ESV).

Three real-life examples of the sun changing the narrative

Do we believe in miracles? Do we have faith that amazing things happen during otherwise natural phenomena?

The Bible and the Church offer up multiple sun stories. Here are three:

The day the sun stood still?

The Bible tells us of a day when “the sun stood still, and the moon stayed until the nation took vengeance on their enemies. Is this not written in the Book of Jashar?”

“The sun stayed in the midst of heaven and did not hasten to go down for about a whole day. There has been no day like it before or since.” (Joshua 10:13–14, RSV2CE).

The Miracle of the Sun

At least 30,000 witnessed the Miracle of the Sun on October 13, 1917, in Fatima, Portugal. Numerous eyewitness accounts describe a long rainfall, followed by dark clouds breaking.

Then the sun appeared to resemble an opaque, spinning disc that started casting multicolored lights.

The sun then reportedly careened toward the earth before zig-zagging back to its normal position. Witnesses also reported that their wet clothes turned “suddenly and completely dry,” as the once wet or muddy ground dried.

A new story about an ailing pastor

On April 13, 2021, more than two weeks after their pastor was hospitalized at the University of Michigan Hospital, a large group of prayer warriors stood outside praying for Father Mathias Thelen.

From his hospital bed, he prayed with them via FaceTime.

As they moved from prayers to songs of worship, the sun seemed to grow brighter, bigger overcoming a cloud that got in its way.

The bleeding stopped, and Thelen soon came home, but complications later forced him to return. He’s still recovering but hopeful.

“The sun rises and the sun sets; then it presses on to the place where it rises.” Ecclesiastes 1:5, NABRE).

Set your phone camera to “time-lapse,” and the whole story unfolds

Whenever we return to Myrtle Beach, my new routine goes like this: don’t set the alarm but leave the curtain open enough to let in the light (which tells me when I need to wake up).

Something about the sun tells me to go out on the balcony and set my phone’s camera to “time-lapse” mode when the sun makes its move. You see the story unfold. Each step turns minutes into moments.

But when the sun was battling a big cloud formation, a voice told me to follow the old editor’s advice of moving “closer to the real story,” so I headed to the beach to see the real action unfold up closer.

“Understand this well: there is something holy, something divine hidden in the most ordinary situations, and it is up to each one of you to discover it.” — St. Josemaria Escriva.