The Story of the Sunrise (and other related myths)

Why does the sun rise and set?

 There once was a man who loved the world like it was his own. He watched over the earth from above, providing warmth and light to all who saw him. Every hour of every day, he was there to look over them. They called him the sun and they were his people.

There was goodness in the land, but there could also be evil. A child starved in the streets while a pitiless passerby walked on. A man stole his dinner from a grieving widow. A brother killed his own kin over the last of the bread. There was great hunger in the land and great trouble came with it. The sun looked over his people, but he could not ease their suffering.

With time, little evils turned larger. Wars erupted and battle raged. Nature revolted against it's people and disasters shook the globe. From afar, the sun could only watch as his people were torn apart.

There came a time where the pain was impossible to bear. Men held no concern for his fellow man. Children had no protection from the horrors that surrounded them. Women were treated as animals, bought and sold as chattel for hedonist men.

The sun could no longer watch his people in their pain. He lowered his head and shut his eyes. He ducked below the horizon, taking his light and warmth with him.

His people looked around, but they could no longer see. They could not run through the streets to murder and steal. They could not see their fellow man to hurt him. They could not do all of the things that had caused them so much pain. In fact, the only way to survive the darkness was to work with one another. They lit fires for each other and huddled closer together than they had been in years. Slowly, the darkness brought with it something powerful: love.

The sun could not return to his people, but he sent an army of stars to look after them in the dark. The moon was his admiral, and he reported back each night on the state of the world. People were calming, he said. Wars were ending and sins were being forgiven. The darkness brought with it quiet, and some were finding a rest deeper than ever before. As their bodies and minds slowed into a state they would someday call sleep, their violence dulled.

When the sun returned to his people, he was celebrated. They loved and adored him. They begged him never to leave again. But as time ticked on they returned to their wicked ways. The sun did want to leave them, but they left him no choice. He ducked again below the horizon, leaving his people to the eyes of the stars and moon.

He would return again and again to the same fate. It became clear that the sun could not look over his people for every hour of every day. When uninterrupted, people could be vicious. The very power the sun so kindly gifted could be used to cause harm, and people seemed intent on using it for that purpose.

To protect his people, the sun had to leave them. He could not bear to abandon them entirely, and so the sun split his time. For half of the day he would stay and watch over his people, lending them the warmth and power he so wanted them to enjoy. For the other half he would leave them with a most lovely moon, a million stars and the safety he could not provide when he was there.

Every day, as the sun treks across the sky, remember that he does this for you. He does this for all of us. He does this to protect us from ourselves.