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My daughter is an aspiring musician and singer and now the school holidays have arrived, she likes to rise up at the crack of dawn to sit down at the piano and practice. Her favourite song of the moment is by the American singer Andra Day and contains the refrain: I'll rise up I'll rise like the day I'll rise up I'll rise unafraid This song reminds me of how Ilhan Omar, the Somali-born US politician, responded to being told to ‘Go back home’ by a crowd of Trump supporters by posting the words of the poet Maya Angelou: You may kill me with your hatefulness, But still, like air, I’ll rise For my daughter, an adopted child who has already faced some tough challenges in her life, and Ilhan, a victim of racial abuse, there is, to me, an expressed confidence and determination in these words. They intend to rise above the obstacles, above fear and stereotypes, determined to be somebody of significance and do something purposeful in the world. Just a day after the appointment of our new Prime Minister, today Parliament shuts down to take a break for the summer. Technically speaking having “sat” for its session now it will “rise” for its recess. It is a confusing term. Parliament may not be rising in the sense that Day and Angelou use the term. But perhaps the summer recess will give our politicians space and time to find fresh hope and vision for the vital job they do for us all. Perhaps they will return ready to face the tests that come with Brexit negotiations reaching crunch point, a global ecological challenge, and an on-going refugee crisis. For generations when facing uncertain times Christians have clung to words from the book of Malachi in the Bible. The prophet makes a promise to the Jewish nation when they were facing a decisive moment in their public life. He says: “for you who revere my name, the sun of righteousness will rise with healing in its rays.” The prophet argues that those who humbly seek not their own rise to fame and fortune but God’s honour will experience righteousness warming them like the rays of the rising sun. Some face this political moment with fear and trepidation, others with excitement and expectation. But for all of us a new day is here. I am not unrealistic about the huge task ahead but my hope is that politicians grasp the opportunity to seek the common good of the nation and the greater good of the world. And that each of us might rise today with renewed purpose, whatever the obstacles we face.