| ON
SUNSETS
Freedom is never more than one generation away from extinction.
We didn't pass it to our children in the bloodstream. It must be
fought for, protected, and handed on for them to do the same, or
one day we will spend our sunset years telling our children and
our children's children what it was once like in the United States
where men were free.
--Ronald Reagan
What is life? It is a flash of a firefly in the night. It is the
breath of a buffalo in the wintertime. It is the little shadow which
runs across the grass and loses itself in the sunset.
--Crowfoot
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This
sunset concept opens the door to the bigger question that the movie
seems to ask and answer. What treasures have value? Fundamentally,
God created all the personality types, differences in people that
sometimes cause disagreements but that in the end make this world
run smoothly. I have learned to enjoy more “sunsets”
in life, but I remain a Type A personality with many goals, desires,
and the ever-elusive next challenge ahead. This is not fundamentally
a bad thing, but passion spent in the wrong direction offers only
empty calories. Unfortunately for driven people, the temporal things
in life such as money, success and power cry the loudest for our
attention. But, it’s like a good friend of mine recently said,
“The lean years were the best times. That was really living.
Being rich is kind of like, ‘What do you have for dessert
after you’ve already eaten dessert?’” I’ll
take that saying to my grave! It reminds me that the real treasures
in life are those that cannot be bought or achieved. The real treasures
are in developing good relationships, helping others, serving God,
and keeping a good attitude by being thankful for everything.
What
did Christ have to say? “Do not store up for yourselves treasures
on earth, where moth and rust destroy, and where thieves break in
and steal. But store up for yourselves treasures in heaven . . .
for where your treasure is, there your heart will be also”
(Matt.6:19-21). Then he carried out and fulfilled his own commandment.
What was Christ’s treasure? Where was his heart? He never
lived a wealthy life and in fact, didn’t even have a home
once He began his ministry. But still, I like to think He was a
Type A personality. Why? Because on this earth, He served the people
who hated him, fed the hungry, healed the sick and tormented, taught
the leaders, encouraged his disciples, and eventually died to restore
the relationship between Himself and every human ever to be born.
That takes some kind of grit and determination! Christ passionately
pursued the most valuable thing in life– human relationships.
The ultimate goal, the most valuable treasure, was the relationship
of God to man, that the two would no longer be separated by sin.
The beauty of His work and the point of this film is that enjoying
life involves recognizing the value of those you spend your life
with -before the sunset is gone.
--Melinda
Ledman |
