One Moment – Will you Capture it?
As we drove past the trees and buildings onto the freeway, the skyline ahead of us cleared. We had already seen enough to realize that tonight’s sunset was going to be something out of the ordinary, but nothing had prepared us for this. The on-ramp to the freeway on our way home was in fact the entrance to a moment in history I don’t think I’ll ever forget.
Because in the midst of a year that has been tumultuous for all, we found a few minutes of wonder.
There’s something about sunrises and sunsets that just moves me. I’ve seen the sun come up across oceans, and seen it set in the mountains and across the plains. The movement of light seems to connect me to the universe in a way that nothing else can, and while all light is beautiful, seeing a vivid sunset burning up the sky reminds me that I am connected to this world and this universe in a way I cannot fully comprehend.
It also reminds me that life, like a sunset, can be fleeting.
This sunset was beautiful from start to finish, but I think the picture I took of it captured it at its most vibrant. Although I shouldn’t have taken the picture while driving, I realized that this incredible combination of blues and oranges wasn’t going to last too long. So I decided that I needed to capture this moment right now.
And so I grabbed my phone, and took the shot.
There’s a part of me that wishes I could have been set up with a really nice camera on a hillside overlooking a valley, so that I could have really done this sunset justice, rather than shooting with a cell-phone, through a slightly dirty windshield, while trying to focus on both the traffic and the sky. Life rarely gives us everything when it gives us an opportunity…
So I went with what I had, and found myself in a moment that will live with me forever.
I can’t explain what it was about this sunset that elevated it from beautiful to spiritual, but there was just something about the contrast, the timing, the angles and the sheer majesty of the light show before us. Through a year that has been difficult for all of us in one way or another, I was reminded that life is beautiful, and that there are so many things in this world that are good.
It also reminded me that I need to take the moments of good when I find them.
Because it’s easy to get caught up in all that we see wrong in the world today, and it is easy to let moments of opportunity slide because sometimes it looks too difficult, or too much like hard work. Every day is full of opportunities to experience wonder, try new things, or make that phone call that can change somebody’s world.
But all too often, we let the moment slip, and those moments turn into hours, and days into years, and we find that we are in the same place emotionally and physically that we have always been. Growth happens when we capture the moment, and peace envelops our soul when we take the chances that are before us.
So today, you have this moment… will you capture it, or just let it slip ?
— Dr. Alan Barnes
@maddrbmusings