Ecclesiastes 1:5

The sun comes up, and the sun goes down,
    and hurries to the place where it rises.
Ecclesiastes 1:5 Modern English Version (MEV)
 
We know much about the rotation of the earth, so it’s rather easy for us to forget that, not so long ago, the sum of what we knew was based upon our observations as we stood upon the firmament of the earth. From that vantage point we observed the sun rising, transiting in a great arc across the sky, only to disappear again into places unknown to us. From such observations we learned over time that the sun did the same thing, over and over, with only minor variations, as the seasons came and went. There were, of course, those rare times when it seemed the sun was being swallowed up by some great monster but, in the end, the sun was able to free itself. While it may seem vainly repetitious that the sun will rise and set with great regularity, there is also great solace in that knowledge, that life will go on as it has done for ages past.