I am sitting on the south side of the Chicken Ranch this pleasant evening. Wonderful temps and a gentle wind. The sun has set beyond the horizon and left the western sky dimly lit in its afterglow. The fading light blue is broken by the lavenders and deep purples of storm clouds, spread out and reaching like great hands and fingers across the distance. A peninsula of clouds is colored neon orange on the fringe of the horizon, and two white vapor trails speak of an airliners recent passing. Another dazzling sunset. How many sunsets have I witnessed I wonder?
A quick calculation in my head tells me that I have witnessed 20,000 sunsets or more in my lifetime. Most have slipped by me without my giving it so much as a glance. In the last decade or so however, I have come to love the beauty of the setting sun, the multicolored skies, the softening winds and the changing of the animal kingdom guard.
I have watched the sun set over three oceans. I have loved to feed my eyes with the waves that roll like liquid fire, as the sinking, glowing orb of light dips into the deep blue waters.
I have viewed a sunsets’ beauty from southern mountain tops, watching the land below quietly go to sleep, as the black shadow of night slowly and imperceptibly unfolds like a dark blanket across the valley floor.
I have watched the setting sun change the tree tops from rich greens to vibrant yellows and oranges, igniting the hills in a non-consuming fire that roars, and then slowly burns out as the sun melts below the hills.
I love the New Mexico
Twenty thousand sunsets. What have I absorbed from them all? What have I learned in the nearly 59 years God has granted me breath? What will I have accomplished with the life I have been given, when that final sunset comes? I fear that I have wasted a good deal of daylight over the years. Life has a way of sucking us into a vortex of work, worry and waste. It’s so easy for me to squander time.
Oh, I know have accomplished some good things. And I have made some mistakes, some terrible. I have missed opportunities to do good and help others. And I have, at times, sacrificed for others or something bigger than myself. I do try to put others needs ahead of mine and be a true friend. In the back and forth tug at my life, I hope the good outweighs the bad. But is this enough? Really?
I want to make good use of the time I have. I want to walk with purpose in my step, prayer in my heart, and with goodwill toward my fellow man evident in my spirit.
I want to make good use of the time I have. I want to walk with purpose in my step, prayer in my heart, and with goodwill toward my fellow man evident in my spirit.
As I watch this sunset tonight, I am reminded of the steadfastness of it all. Every day the sun rises and every night it sets. It has since time immemorial. It is in its place doing what God planned it should do from the beginning. Powerfully, yet quietly, obeying the will of The Creator, faithful in its place. Would that I could do better at these things myself. And to be counted on, by my friends, as just as dependable.
As I see the first stars of night light up in twinkling sequence, I purpose to value more what I have been given. To give thanks to the Giver. I take in a deep breath of the evening air and say aloud, “I don’t want to waste a day ...or another setting of the sun.”
