Can we talk?

Sunset

Tonight the sun was a brilliant orange ball on the horizon. I could see it through the trees. It had rained only an hour ealier, so the sky was clear. A stunning sunset never fails to amaze me with its beauty and its glory.

If only the sunset of our lives could be as lovely, as breathtaking and marvelous. That last great effort at creativity and art and service should be so awesome. But, the sunset of our lives are usually so depressing and gray and dismal. No one wants an old person around. And the arthritis! And finances. And where to live, whether to have the surgery. How does a person with joint problems or bad balance clean the house, or change the bed, or wash her hair, or pick up things dropped on the floor?

Some elderly people can't shop, and their clothes wear out. Just because they're elderly doesn't mean they don't care about how they look, or how they fit in with the other folks at the nursing home. And they don't want current styles; they want shoes and clothes the way they were ten or twenty years ago. (At some point most of us freeze in our fashion comfort level.)

And yet there are some who in their seventies and eighties still teach children at church, or babysit, or do community service. I had a landlady who passed away at 74, but up until a month before, she rode the riding mower to cut a large field, taught adult Bible study, drove her truck all over the county for anyone who called with a problem, delivered food to people down and out, and was still taking classes to learn how to counsel people in tragedy. I have a great-uncle in his 90's who's taking care of his invalid wife for the last five years, feeding her, tending to her every need, keeping her strong despite dementia and many physical problems. He keeps the house clean, the yard clean, and demostrates love and affection, and will talk your ear off if he catches in the store.

Those are beautiful sunsets. Michelangelo and Mother Teresa had beautiful sunsets. None of them were without sickness or pain. They just had work to do. If I want to have a beautiful sunset despite my aches and poverty, I'll have to stay busy. No one who dwells inwardly can radiate beauty.