There is a dim memory in the back of all intelligent creatures’ minds. It is a deep, deep memory of a time when darkness did not rule the hearts of men and the world did not cry out for answers. It is less than a memory and more of a sense that sometime in the past the world had been altered in a way that made it less than it should be. When he looked at a sunset he had the feeling that he was not looking at sunsets the way they once were. The sunset as it appeared to him now was beautiful and fiery, it had all the right colors, the right effects. He breathed heavily as he stared watching the sun slowly make its way below the horizon. If the sunset seemed less than ideal to him, the problem was in his own heart. He realized after a moment that he was not paying close enough attention to the event he came to observe. His stomach sent a spasm of acid into his throat and he felt the urge to double over in convulsive cries. He concentrated instead on the sight in front of him and put aside the real reason for his coming to this point to watch another day slowly die away.
He stood there for a long while after the golden red crown of the sun had dipped below the distant green hills. Below him spread the entire countryside. The only town for miles lay in the valley below laid out like a pastoral scene. Lights were beginning to come on as the sun’s own light faded. The only thing anchoring the idyllic scene to the rest of the world was the barely visible line of the road as is broke out of the trees and followed the run of the valley to the north. There was no Lord’s house to dominate the landscape, no stately manor house to give an outsider the sense that this land and its people had any real purpose or for that matter any identity. But he knew these people. He was one of these people. Perhaps that is why his grandfather had laid this last task before him. It was his grandfather’s dying wish that he come to this spot and stand watch over the ending of the same day that began with the sudden ending of his grandfather’s life. His stomach churned again as the memories of the morning resurfaced like grubby fingers digging into fresh wounds.
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I wrote this just today after a talk I had with a friend from school. We were just encouraging each other to write more creatively since all we ever write here are academic papers and sermons. Anyway, we'll see where this goes.
This have been kind of tough here. For the first time we have not had the money in the bank to pay my whole tuition at the beginning of the semester, and on top of that we have had over $1k in unexpected car repairs in the last two weeks alone. The Lord is good however and money comes in the mail unlooked for. It really does!
I am reminded as I am working on my first sermon for class this semester that the Lord fights for his people! We have only to be still and see the salvation the Lord is working out for us.
