“That rooster looks like he knows something we don’t know! I almost wonder if God smiles like that sometimes; He knows we have a blessing in our path but maybe it has not been revealed to us.”

            --Anna Leonard

 My friend was exactly right when she responded to this about this painting.  Without hearing a word of the thoughts of the artist, she instinctively knew that rooster has an announcement to make; something is “新” (new).  The sun and the rooster have worked in tandem for the ages.  He knows when the darkness has reached its limit.  The sun is about break over the horizon. He announces the majesty of light.

There is a story in our tender humanity of a man who had reached the deepest point of despair in the darkness that enveloped him.  He had been told that by the time the rooster crowed in the morning, he would accomplish devastating shame.  The rooster screamed; The man was heartbroken over his own failures.  In that moment, he thought the rooster announced the news of disappointment.  But that was never held in the instinct of the bird.  He announces light, not dark. He is the Courier of the future, not the past. The new day brought brand new hope and a guarantee of the future like none had ever seen.

The feeling one gets at the start of a New Year is often solid resolve that the future will be better.  A simple Sunday morning and the daily sunrise brings new grace and mercy.  The favor of yesterday has diminished, but there is more for today.  There will be more for tomorrow.  Love made sure that we were not consumed by the darkness; Faithfulness provides a compassionate future.

This particular gentleman peeking from a palm fern, inspired friends to inspire me to capture the spirit of the wild Jungle Fowl in the Singapore Botanic Gardens. Every morning, he greets the sun, wakes the flora and fauna, and ensures that those who walk and run its trails know that the new day is here.