2.10.2007

My mornings can be pretty rushed. Waking up with ten minutes to spare before I jump into the passenger seat of a smart car… yes, a smart car. Struggling to keep my eyes open, I eat my half spread toasted plain bagel with regular cream cheese as I drift in and out of reality asking myself why I didn’t stay in bed and sleep the day away. Amidst the confusion of two wild untrained dogs, a couple day care children, and a race against the clock, the morning always seems to take its first step on the wrong foot.

But once that bagel is eaten and the morning talk with the driver is complete, I sit in silence and it is beautiful. The silence? Some times. But more than that, the sun. We drive with our backs to the sunrise but God has blessed me with the perfect seat to watch the sun crest the horizon behind me. How does it work? The rear view mirror. The driver can’t see it, but from the angle I sit at every morning, I see it perfectly through the mirror. Hope rises, and suddenly my day gets back on the right foot. It's actually pretty strange how perfect this beautiful scene centers itself perfectly in the mirror, right from the angle I sit at... it's so great. What’s more than that, there is a gorgeous church sitting above the highway, and at the right moment, the ever-glowing sunrise pierces its beauty upon a cross standing tall on the roof of this church. You couldn’t ask for anything better. As busy as my day is in the morning, God has given me the opportunity everyday to take a step back and just reflect on His beauty.

And at the end of the day, it gets even better. I work in a warehouse, and so we are constantly raising the dock door to give product to its new rightful owner. Before my shift ends around 5, I often need to lift that dock door one more time. As I start to lift the door, the sun begins to creep in under the door. I lift the door fully and there it is.
The sunset.
You can’t even imagine the beauty of that sky. Beginning with a magnificent yellow stretching from left to right, through orange, red, dark purple, and finally into a rich blue, there is only one more thing that tops the picture; a single star directly in the centre of the sky. It must be a planet, because this thing is huge, and so bright. With no other stars around it, it is definitely the cherry on top.
And what makes it so impressive is that this beautiful horizon is outlined by the city’s skyline. A fast-paced highway on the left, and a plaza of 8 large restaurants and a 24-theatre cinema on the right. And you know what? I love it. I love this picture. Amidst all of what this world has to offer; Amidst all of the confusion, pain, suffering, wasted money, pollution, crime, war, hate, death… we can’t get away from the beauty of God. You can look at all the great thing of this world for as long as you want, but all it takes is just a single look up to the sky to remember that there has got to be something so much better than what the world has to offer us. Tomorrow, take a break from the busy life you have between 5 and 6, swing open the blinds and look outside a window or put a sweater on and step outside your front door and take a moment to look up to the sky and watch the sun set and know that there has got to be something so much bigger than anything you could ever imagine. Allow time to stop, and smile in the silence, it’s just you and God.

No comments: