There's something about a sunset. I was driving home last night and I got to see the most beautiful sunset. The clouds spread out like a blanket over the sky. There was shadow over the earth, but suddenly, the sun peeked out from behind the clouds, shedding light on the underside of the clouds, at first shining through the clouds, the rays shining through the darkness. Then the sun itself fell through the barrier of the clouds, lightening up both the earth and the clouds above it in a wonderful light. I took a picture of it; this is not it.

Before returning home, I stopped at the grocery store, where I had to pick up milk for the next morning. As I was leaving, I saw a Starburst on the ground, still in its wrapper, crushed into the cement sidewalk. Both of these images I will remember for quite a while. I will also remember what they both meant to me: The sunset was one of the moments when I knew that God was there; “The Lord bless you and keep you; the Lord make his face to shine upon you; the Lord turn his face toward you and give you peace.” Numbers 6:24-26. There is something about nature that does and will always point to a creator; and the world, as we know, is always looking for happiness that can only come from the Lord. The Starburst I will remember as symbolic of that emptiness of humankind, and Americans in particular, that cannot be fulfilled by the earthly things; we will always be searching for happiness in any form, whether it be money, power, or earthly possessions. Until we can realize that it is not in the world that we find our true happiness, it will continue to allude us; we will be allowed to find our temporary happiness in those things in which we delight instead of in the love of the Lord.

“May the words of my mouth and the meditation of my heart be pleasing in your sight, O LORD, my Rock and my Redeemer.”  Psalm 19:14

“O God, restore us And cause Your face to shine upon us, and we will be saved.”  Psalm 80.3

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