From my archives —

Perched in the swing all day thinking I needed to get up and do a few chores but being retired I selfishly decide it’s okay to bird watch the day away waiting for the sunset to send me in the house. The male red-breasted grosbeak came back to my bird buffet today but didn’t bring his mate. The female grosbeaks look like mutant large sparrows, chunky and brown with a bold white stripe over their eyes, large seed beaks. You’d never know they are kin to the males. I kept the squirrels off the bird feeder poles today with cooking spray. Seriously thinking it’s time to get a squirrel feeder.

The sun raced down the dark blue horizon tonight at twilight like a lightning bolt of fire, burning a bright yellow hole in the orange clouds of sunset, sprinkling colorful ashes of pink and purple on the high clouds. She was rolling too fast for Father Sky to keep up so he quickly turned out the day’s light to extinguish her flames. Sunsets are always to beautiful to watch and always a blessing to experience. The sun was showing off today. Wonder who she was trying to impress. The moon and stars, waked early by Father Sky, gossiped about the sun’s audacity to not wait on Father Sky to escort her down the horizon , and whispered she was a “femme fatale.”

“At every sunset, the sky is a different shade. No cloud is ever in the same place. Each day is a new masterpiece. A new wonder. A new memory,” Sanibel Khan. Those words are a beautiful way to describe a sunset and our lives, too.

Every day is different from the day before and today is different from the day tomorrow. We draw our world in the colors of our experiences. We experience new wonders and we make new memories. Life has its sunsets with challenges and changes that cloud our horizon with dark shadows. We can give into the darkness or use our faith to pray and bring sunlight back into the darkness. Walking through the darkness, praying for light, molds our faith. We trust God to give us light or to hold our hand and walk with us through the dark times.

We discover our inner strength when we deal with life’s difficulties. The colors in the sunset symbolize our emotions and we can look to the sun as a golden glow of hope and acceptance. We need to learn to navigate life’s challenges with grace. We can inspire others with our sunsets of acceptance and show there is the promise of a brighter tomorrow once the storm has passed.

Sunsets are a beautiful endings to the day and the promises of a new day. We can let go of the past and start fresh, embracing new possibilities. Every day the sun rises and every day the sun sets. We can count on that just like we can count on God’s grace and love. God is ever faithful. Psalm 117:2 reads, “His merciful kindness is great toward us, and the faithfulness of the Lord endures forever.”

“The sky has a way of speaking to the soul. It offers calm in the midst of chaos, hope in the midst of despair, and light in the darkness of life.” – Mia Kirshner