Dear, Darling,World,
Tonight I took time to lay aside my broom in the middle of evening chores and watch the sunset. A simple thing, but one that might tell a lot about a person if you'd only listen.
It is a maxim of mine never to grow too busy to watch a sunset. You see, a person who is too busy to watch a sunset now and then is to busy to live, and if one is too busy to live, then one had much better die. It sounds harsh, yes, but if you'd only bear with me a moment longer you might understand...
What do we rush through life for but to get to the end and look back with a sigh of relief? Then it is the end you are rushing after, so go ahead and rush toward it if you will. I'm afraid I take a rather Peter-Pan-ian view of this life:
Of course I want to be in Heaven with Jesus, but I am not one of those cardboard people who think this world is rotten through and through with nothing to enjoy. Heaven will be marvelous, I know. Far better than anything I've imagined it out to be. If I knew what perfection is I'm sure I'd die here and now from sheer longing to be there. But how can one be quite certain that there will be sunsets? One cannot be certain of anything on that account because there won't need to be a sun with God's glory shining. Now wouldn't it be a shame to get to Heaven only to realize that you'd missed all the sunsets on earth? Heaven will undoubtedly have things far more beautiful than a sunset, but think of the benefits of taking a bit of time to lay aside your broom! What a longer life it might give you, just because you watched a sunset. Think of it in a logical manner:
1. You lay aside your broom, therefore you add a moment of leisure to your life that might never have existed.
2. You step out onto the porch and your skin soaks in the last rays of vitamin D while you heart and soul are fed by this beauty of the Lord's making. Right there, one has ministered to all three parts of one's body.
3. You let your mind wander a little which improves brain capacity and intelligence.
4. You watch this sunset with your senses alive to the beauty of the world--the colors flooding the sky, the sound of the frogs and crickets, the feel of the cool air against your skin. Thus your awareness of your five senses will be heightened and your dinner will taste better
5. You go back inside and you are in a happier mood.
6. You finish sweeping and probably do a much better job because now that it comes to it, you can see all those spots you missed.
7. You live your life this way, stepping outside to watch sunsets. Once you get to Heaven you see there might not be any sunsets, but there is something infinitely better--you are slightly prepared for the glory by absorbing beauty in little doses.
8. You are twice the winner--you tasted heaven on earth, and you'll recognize earth in Heaven.
So you see, watching the sunsets will extend your life, make you healthy, wealthy, and wise, and all around improve you in every manner. How the philosophers would laugh at my reasoning, but I say Let Them. I guarantee that I'll be the happier by the end of this life while they argued that I was the one in error. :)
Love Everly,
Rachel
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Excellent post Rachel! I myself have just re-descovered the wonder of sunsets. Currently chiding myself for all the ones i missed.
ReplyDeleteThis is one that I think the philosophers can't argue with.
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Oh I loved this! It's so true! It's something I've thought a lot about over the years, though for me it was always "taking the time to watch the snowflakes fall" or "look at the beautiful flowers" but of course, it means the same thing.
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