Quotes, A Sunrise, and a Prayer About Unbelief

Aug 29, 2022

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Beauty Abounds
August 29, 2022

Quotes, A Sunrise, and a Prayer About Unbelief

Dear ,

Happy Monday!

If you’re new around here, you probably found me through the 30 Prayers For When You Feel Lonely and Left Out Ebook. I write about belonging, identity, loneliness, culture, feeling like an outsider, faith, and finding beauty in this broken yet beautiful world. I’m so happy you’re here!

Quotes about Sunrise and the Gift of a New Day

One morning last week I was up at dawn and hurriedly made my way to the lake to catch the sunrise. I took a few photos of the sun as it emerged above the horizon.

Are you an early riser? Do you like to be up early, near dawn, before the rest of the world awakens? I have to admit, I’m more of a night owl, though I’d like to catch more of the gifts that can only be opened in the quiet moments as a new day emerges.

I’m a Quote Collector, so I collected a few about the morning sunrise:

“There is a moment in ever dawn when light floats, there is the possibility of magic. Creation holds its breath.” - Douglas Adams

“I wanted everybody to see a sunrise and be knocked out by the miracle of it, the world being created every morning.” — Mordicai Gerstein

“Even the darkest night will end and the sun will rise.” — Victor Hugo, Les Misérables

“Every day a million miracles begin at sunrise.” — Eric Jerome Dickey

“Nature unfolds her treasure at the first ray of sunrise.” — Kishore Bansal

“I hope you realize that every day is a fresh start for you. That every sunrise is a new chapter in your life waiting to be written.” — Juansen Dizon, Confessions of a Wallflower

“Life. This morning the sun made me adore it. It had, behind the dripping pine trees, the oriental brightness, orange and crimson, of a living being, a rose and an apple, in the physical and ideal fusion of a true and daily paradise.” --Juan Ramón Jiménez, Time and Space: A Poetic Autobiography

“With a bound, the sun of a molten fiery red cam above the horizon, and immediately thousands of little birds sang out for joy, and a soft chorus of mysterious, glad murmurs came forth from the earth; the low whispering wind left its hiding-place among the clefts and hollows of the hills, and wandered among the rustling herbs and trees, waking the flower-buds to the life of another day.” --Elizabeth Gaskell, Ruth

“It wasn’t the sunrise that took my breath away. Rather, it was the privilege of knowing that forces a billion times my own strength silently merged in the first light of a new day to remind me that I am part of something infinitely bigger than all of the combined challenges of any day.” --Craig D. Lounsbrough

“Not a road long enough
to outrun the dawn.
Let the sun rise.
I am ready.”
--L.M. Browning, Drive Through the Night

***

A new day is a remarkable gift. I was thinking about that today, as I was driving with my parents this weekend across 850 miles. We were stuck in busy traffic, with hundreds of other folks.

As I looked at the multitudes of cars around me across those miles and considered the stories of all the people on the road, I wondered, “What if we all knew we had just one week left on earth? Would we be headed in our cars right now doing what we are doing now? What would be different? Where would I be going? Would any of this be important?”

If we all knew we had just one week left, I bet our lives would look drastically different. The busyness and haste with which we live and move is itself quite extraordinary. Do we live as if each sunrise is the marvelous miracle that it is?

I admit I often take the sunrises for granted. I can forget that each day is not a guarantee and that each sunrise is a miracle, another opportunity, a gift. Catching that sunrise this past week nudged my spirit, and reminded me not to take each day for granted.

On the Bookshelf

Do you set reading goals? I decided this year to create a reading challenge for myself: to read 40 books during this calendar year. I’ve read over 30 so far, and I think that reaching this goal is doable. I can see it happening!

One new book I just picked up is called “Learning Our Names: Asian American Christians on Identity, Relationships, and Vocation” by Sabrina Chan, Linson Daniel, E. David de Leon, and La Thao. The book releases on August 30, but because I pre-ordered, somehow my copy arrived early—and that was a pleasant surprise in my mailbox!!

As I’ve been on a journey of my own to discern what it means to be Asian American, or Indian American, or South Asian (and indeed what to call myself, and I’ve used each of these terms), I’ve been reading books to help me on this quest. So what does identity mean? And what does it mean to be Asian American?

On page 32, of Learning Our Names, E. David de Leon writers, “Beyond a racial category and a political label, what is Asian American identity? If identity is understood as the holding of stories and histories, then Asian American identity is an attempt to draw out the broader, collective stories that mark the various Asian American communities in the United States today.”

As Asian Americans, we have shared and common experiences, such as immigration or stories of migration. But it is also complicated, because Asia is diverse. Encyclopedia Britannica states that Asia is the world’s largest and most diverse continent. Asia is comprised of 48 countries , with 4.5 billion people who speak over 2,300 languages.

How do we even begin to define what it means to be Asian American, with such diversity? The term “Asian American” can mean many different things. Does it mean Indian American? Korean American? Chinese American? Lao? Vietnamese? Malaysian? An Afghani refugee? Does it mean I was born here to immigrant parents, or does it mean I came recently? Does it refer to me if I’m Asian and adopted by a white family? Does it refer to me if I’m mixed; both Asian and another ethnicity?

It’s a challenge for those of us in the Diaspora, those of us who have left our countries of origin (or came with our parents) to define that specifically, when we each come from a different country with its own unique culture, history, and language, and ended up in the United States. Each story is unique. While there are common threads, we also have a great diversity of stories within the context of what it means to be “Asian American”.

In Learning Our Names, I’m gaining insights on various facets contributing to my identity and learning what that name means, and setting aside stereotypes about what it means to be “Asian” in America. To read about Asians in America (and from a Christian perspective), I suggest ordering this book! (*I recommend purchasing from local independent bookstores whenever possible or try using Bookshop.com*)

Do you have friends from the Asian continent? What do they call themselves? I love to ask my friends this question. I usually say something like, “How do you usually refer to yourself?“ or “What do you usually call yourself?”

Have you looked into your heritage and where your family came from? Did they come recently, or 2-3 generations ago or more? Do you have any records of how they referred to themselves? It’s an interesting exercise to learn.

I’m also reading:

Go Back to Where You Came From (and Other Helpful Recommendations on How to Become American) by Wajahat Ali — It’s super funny and an enjoyable read

Quiet: the Power of Introverts in a World that Can’t Stop Talking by Susan Cain — Full of rich insights

The Hurting Kind by Ada Limon (Poetry) — She was recently appointed as the new U.S. Poet Laureate (and I won this book just a few days before she received that appointment!)

Write Better: A Lifelong Editor on Craft, Art, and Spirituality by Andrew T. Le Peau — I just started this to help me be a better writer : )

Because of the book I’m writing and researching (you can read about my book by clicking ), I have to put fiction aside for now (just not enough hours in the day)! Can’t wait to dig into some good fiction a bit later. : )

What are you reading?? Hit reply and share!

Book Writing Update

I’m sharing writing updates with you exclusively, my email community! This is my first official update (many more to come)!

I met with my editor last week to go over some things, and that really helped me get started. I spent time this past week revising my chapters, consolidating several, combining two chapters into one. I like it much better now.

Also these past couple of weeks, I’ve been editing my first three chapter drafts. Oh, they are so much better than the first time! But they are still not “done”! : ) Yet, I feel good about the direction they are heading, and the exciting thing to me is to see it getting better and better.

I have many more words left. It sounds easy, but whew, the combinations of the many words that can be written is endless. It’s a good kind of word puzzle to solve. : ) Word count is about 15,000 words at this point, more or less.

Image source: unsplash

A Prayer for Unbelief

A newsletter subscriber reached out to me, after receiving the 30 Prayers for When You Feel Lonely and Left Out ebook, and asked me if I had a book about unbelief. I do not have a book on that topic, but I did write a prayer addressing that issue.

I want to preface this by saying it’s ok to have doubts. Sometimes, we think faith must be wrapped in a tidy package with a neat bow tied on the top, and it’s always perfect. When doubts creep in, we may feel guilt or wonder if there is something wrong with us or our faith.

Doubt is normal. It’s common. Each of us has at some point or another had doubts about God or wonder if He hears us, or if He is truly there and loves us or cares about us. We may have doubts even if God exists. It’s ok to have such doubts and questions. Often our doubts lead us to deeper places and strengthen us in ways we didn’t know we needed before.

Even David cried out to God with doubt. In Psalm 22: 1-2, David prays:
My God, my God, why have you forsaken me?
Why are you so far from saving me,
so far from my cries of anguish?
My God, I cry out by day, but you do not answer,
by night, but I find no rest.

David feels forgotten by God. David is asking God why He hasn’t answered. Has he forgotten and forsaken David? Why hasn’t He answered? The Psalms are a helpful place to park our souls when we are saddled with unbelief and doubts.

We aren’t the first to have doubts, and we won’t be the last. But here’s the thing about God: He can take our doubts and our questions. He can handle them. Tell Him, throw all your doubts on God’s lap. Cry out to God, and ask Him to help you sort it out.

In Mark 9, a father brings his boy to Jesus for healing. The man says, “…if you can do anything, have pity on us and help us.” (v. 22)

Jesus responds by saying, “‘If you can’?” said Jesus. “Everything is possible for one who believes.” (v. 23)

"Immediately the boy’s father exclaimed, “I do believe; help me overcome my unbelief!” (v. 24)

I think this story is here for us for a reason. It isn’t only about the boy’s healing (which happened) but it is also an example of prayer about unbelief. The man simply said, “help my unbelief”. There was a tinge of doubt, of uncertainty, and unbelief in the father’s words: “if you can'“. The father wasn’t sure; he used the word “if”. Jesus calls him out on it and the man instantly knows he needs help believing, and asks for help to believe.

Prayer can be as simple as saying, “God help me”. Because goodness knows, sometimes, that is the only prayer we can utter. If you are struggling with unbelief, or some other area, just say to God, “Help me.”

Here is a prayer for unbelief.

Dear God, I have to admit, I’m not even sure you are there. I don’t know if you exist, and if you do exist, I wonder if you love me. I’m riddled with questions and doubts about you, and I don’t know what to think. I want to believe. I want to know you’re there, even when I can’t feel your presence. In the midst of my doubt, please show me you are there. Let me feel your presence. God, I do believe; help my unbelief. Amen.

Note: if you have not yet received the eBook, 30 Prayers for When You Feel Lonely and Left Out, you can click here and download this prayer resource as my free gift to you for subscribing to this newsletter.

Image source: unsplash

Poetry

I looove peaches. I also love poetry. Here’s one of my favorite poems.

From Blossoms
by Li-Young Lee

From blossoms comes
this brown paper bag of peaches
we bought from the boy
at the bend in the road where we turned toward
signs painted Peaches.

From laden boughs, from hands,
from sweet fellowship in the bins,
comes nectar at the roadside, succulent
peaches we devour, dusty skin and all,
comes the familiar dust of summer, dust we eat.

O, to take what we love inside,
to carry within us an orchard, to eat
not only the skin, but the shade,
not only the sugar, but the days, to hold
the fruit in our hands, adore it, then bite into
the round jubilance of peach.

There are days we live
as if death were nowhere
in the background; from joy
to joy to joy, from wing to wing,
from blossom to blossom to
impossible blossom, to sweet impossible blossom.

More Quotes

, it would make my day to hear from you. Hit reply and let me know what beauty you’re witnessing around you, what you’re reading, or something else that’s inspiring you. If you’re making your way through the 30 Prayers for When You Feel Lonely and Left Out eBook, I’d love to hear how that’s going, too.

Until next time, remember beauty abounds.

Warmly,
Prasanta

Thank you for being here! If this is your first newsletter from me, you probably subscribed from my website, signed up for the prayer Ebook, for a giveaway, my Chai Recipe, or other resource. I’ll share helpful links, resources, and inspiration regularly. If this newsletter encouraged you in some way, would you consider sharing with a friend? (Make sure you check your spam folder and move this email to your inbox!)

Until next time, make it a lovely one,
Prasanta

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