Photo ©2011 and Commentary ©2026 by Chuck Davis
Monday, May 11, 2026
It was late evening (8:26pm) on August 13, 2011, and I was on the shoulder of Mt. Adams. Looking south, I captured this image of Mt. Hood, with Mt. Jefferson photobombing in the background. To the west, I was able to see the flattened top of Mt. St. Helens.
Sunset was at 8:18pm that day. Alpenglow is the phenomenon appearing as a reddish glow on mountain summits, generally visible for ten to fifteen minutes after the sun has dropped below the horizon. Although the most vibrant colors appear immediately after sunset, light may linger through the initial stages of twilight as indirect light scatters off particles in the atmosphere.
It was a wonderful place to be while the Sabbath was waning. It felt as if God was providing a few extra minutes of Sabbath Rest. The people in the small-town church where I grew up would probably have chided me for the effort I expended in getting to this place on the Sabbath.
One Sabbath Jesus was going through the grainfields, and as his disciples walked along, they began to pick some heads of grain. The Pharisees said to him, “Look, why are they doing what is unlawful on the Sabbath?” He answered, “Have you never read what David did when he and his companions were hungry and in need? In the days of Abiathar the high priest, he entered the house of God and ate the consecrated bread, which is lawful only for priests to eat. And he also gave some to his companions. Then he said to them, “The Sabbath was made for man, not man for the Sabbath. So the Son of Man is Lord even of the Sabbath” (Mark 2:23-28 NIV).
It was more than a Sabbath-Day’s journey, but the view was more filling than a few heads of grain.