The cosmos is embedded in space-time. Every bit of matter within every galaxy, as well as within me, can be located in three spatial dimensions and the fourth dimension of time. The Hebrew Scriptures state this poetically with the words of the first verse of Psalm 50: “The God of gods, the Lord, has spoken and summoned the earth from the rising of the sun to its setting.” In another psalm (113:3), appears the injunction: “From the rising of the sun to its setting let the name of the Lord be praised.” The prophets of the Old Testament offered identical observations. Isaiah (45:6) maintained: “So that all may know, from the rising of the sun to its setting, that there is none beside me. I am the Lord, there is no other.” Another prophet, Malachi, (1:11) pointed out: “From the rising of the sun to its setting, my name is great among the nations …”
“From the rising of the sun to its setting” is a poetic statement about space and time. The words may refer to the East and to the West along with every place in between them. The Third Cannon of the Liturgy contains the instruction: “… from the rising of the sun to its setting a pure sacrifice may be offered to your name.” These words are a relatively direct translation of the Latin: “a solis ortu usque ad occasum oblatio munda offeratus nomini tuo.” When the mass was originally translated from this Latin into English, the phrase, rendered as: “from east to west” focused on the geographical element of location, of place. The newer, more literal translation, returns to the generalized rising and setting of the sun, which includes the concept of the interval from morning until night, the time of light, a time without darkness.
“From the rising of the sun to its setting” is also a summary of this Legacy in Words, reflections on where I’ve been and what I have done. Born in Ohio, said by some to be located on the north coast bounded by the Great Lakes, I moved to Oregon, the far west coast, before returning to the east coast and the Commonwealth of Massachusetts. For the past four decades I have lived in Texas with its south coast along the Gulf of Mexico. I have seen the rising and the setting of the sun across the American continent. At the same time, these essays describe the events from my rising years, the years of my youth and young adulthood, through the days of my maturation and the ultimate setting of my own sun.
I have seen a magnificent sunrise of a deep red orb sitting on the shoulder of Mt Vesuvius, an event I recall with great emotional impact. There are also quiet sunsets viewed from the top of burial vaults in Grand Coteaux, Louisiana, while on annual, Ignatian retreats. These, too, remain a part of my being, my own essence.
Another important acknowledgment is required for every “rising of the sun to its setting.” At the moment of every sunset, there is simultaneously a moment of sunrise on the other side of this planet. Every conclusion is, instantaneously, an initiation of a new day. An earth-day does not have a termination; instead, we have a solar terminator, a magical line racing across the earth; a line splendid to follow on the television screen at your seat on an airplane moving across the Atlantic.
“From the rising of the sun to its setting” is, I believe, a fitting subtitle for my memories of a life lived in many places and throughout many times: good ones and not-so-good ones. All of these moments are but a prelude to what comes next. “Pre-lude” … “before the games begin.” Indeed, with the setting of the sun, let the games begin!