I’ve been lazy today. Still looking at Christmas things that need to be put in the Christmas closets but one of the great things about being retired is the welcome spare moments with no agenda and no work responsibilities except those daily chores for living and maintaining a home. Ralph Waldo Emerson once remarked, “Guard well your spare moments. They are like uncut diamonds. Discard them and their value will never be known. Improve them and they will be the brightest gems in a useful life.”

I’m not sure this modern fast world has time for spare moments. We are all challenged by worries and concerns of life. Going so fast on our daily grind, making leisure hours hard to come by. Those little moments with our children and grandchildren, family and friends that interrupt daily chores or tedious tasks are some of the most precious moments we’ll ever share.

Spent another afternoon with my quote books. There are so many beautiful quotes about sunrise and sunset. I have a little collection of sunset quotes I often read. I think this quote is one of my most favorite. “A sunset is the sun’s fiery kiss to the night,” Crystal Woods. Such a short but accurate description of the glorious end of each day. Some days the horizon will light up like a blazing wildfire and it’s wondrous to watch the flames blaze across the landscape, paling as they burn out, silhouetting the old oak trees black. I like Jarod Kintzs’ quote, too. Kintz writes, “If I could lick the sunset, I bet it would taste like Neapolitan ice cream.” I’ve seen layers of clouds at sunset that do look like Neapolitan ice cream. Tonight’s lick of the sunset sky would have tasted like a three layer blueberry dessert swirled in a melted vanilla ice cream sky. The sunset was hidden away this afternoon, Mother Nature’s watercolors for God’s eyes only.

Mehmet Murat Idan wrote, “Sunset is the opening music of the night.” I love the night symphonies that play out after the sun sets. Each season has a different orchestra that plays till the dawn cuts the music off. In tonight’s symphony I hear the loneliness of the train whistle as it echoes off the cold rails of the railroad tracks, the solitary barks of the gossiping yard dogs looking for conversations after their suppers, the simple love songs of whip-poor-wills and mocking birds, the hoots and guttural sounds of the neighborhood’s two old hoot owls, the symphony conducted by the oak branches keeping time in the cold wind gusts.

A new quote I’ve added to my collection is by John Lubbock. He writes, “Sunsets are so beautiful that they almost seem as if we were looking through the gates of heaven.” That quote is so lovely and the beautiful colors of a magnificent sunset are truly a window to heaven. I cannot deny God when I see the glorious ending of the day break forth in the heavens.

Sunrises and sunsets are predictable things that happen each day. We don’t worry about the sun not rising tomorrow. Even when the sun is hidden by clouds on the darkest of days, the sun is still shining down on us. God is always faithfully shining his love and light on us on our darkest days, too. Jesus said, “I am the light of the world. Whoever follows me will never walk in darkness, but will have the light of life,” John 8:12.

We know tomorrow will come with a glorious sunrise announcing a brand new day. Another day for us to give thanks to God for our gift of life, thanks for a day of new hope and new wishes. Psalm 65:8 reads, “The whole earth is filled with awe at your wonders; where morning dawns, where evening fades, you call forth songs of joy.”

God is faithful like the sun. We can always count on him. We can always have joy in our hearts when we have faith in our Lord. He can light the darkness and put a rainbow in the heavens of our hearts.

“If I can put one touch of rosy sunset into the life of any man or woman, I shall feel that I have worked with God.” — K. Chesterton