Did you notice the sunrise this morning? No? I’m sure you’re not alone. And that is a real shame.
As I write this, I sit at my desk, looking out the window into some of the most profound color and beauty that perhaps I have ever seen. It’s overcast on this early Monday morning but there is the promise of a comfortable and sunny fall day. Yet it’s those clouds, hanging low in the sky at this moment, that are capturing the light of the rising sun. They are painted with the most striking colors. Deep, almost a blood red. Yellow, orange, purple, with the clear blue sky as a backdrop. It’s breathtaking. Singing in perfect harmony are the trees, reaching up to those clouds, wearing their brilliant fall colors that are much more colorful than recent years past. Colors that perfectly compliment and reflect the grand display overhead. I wish I had a camera. Yet I realize it couldn’t begin to capture what is before me. The most gifted artist couldn’t capture this moment. It is a moment in time, of living and breathing art. Soon to be lost to the ages. A gift from our Creator. A reminder to those of us that happen to experience it, that the hurried and stressful commute that is simultaneously happening below this grand spectacle, is really not the purpose and meaning of this life. If only everyone could stop their cars for a moment, get out of them, and absorb this moment. Complete strangers, yet share in this most awe-filled moment, maybe nod to one another, perhaps even shake hands, smile, take a few deep breaths. Maybe, just maybe, this Monday morning could be much more relaxed, peaceful, than it may end up for many.
Life moves too fast and is too short. The hustle and bustle mankind has created for itself, in the end, is all meaningless. How can we as a society embrace less of the hustle and more of the timeless gifts of beauty from God, and take some deep breaths, and loose those stress tightened muscles? Is it possible to collectively take even a few moments and forget about our own selfish ambition and personal agendas and collection of objects, wealth and power, to instead simply exist in the moment we’re given? To just be? To enjoy a moment of peace with God and His creation, and each other?
Of the thousands that could have experienced this, I hope you were one of the few.
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