Wisdom is not restricted to those more advanced in years, yet I find that often older women and men do have a certain level of understanding that is sometimes missing in the young. So it is that one of the great joys of pastoring a congregation with so many folks in their eighties and nineties means being gifted with their astute observations.
This past week, for instance, I had a conversation with a parishioner who was celebrating her eighty-ninth birthday. It was a gorgeous day and as she talked about her love of Sanibel and Captiva she mentioned sunsets in particular. "I even saw the green flash once off of Captiva." (For those who are unfamiliar with the term "green flash" it refers to a sudden appearance of the color green in the sky at sunrise or sunset which usually lasts only one or two seconds.)
"I've seen it too," I said.
"Lots of people never see it," she went on. "They're too busy telling their children to pick up their towels and things like that."
I chuckled.
"My son is an artist, " she went on, "and he's always telling his students all they have to do is look if they really want to see beauty."
It made my day. All you have to do is look if you really want to see! How wise! How profoundly true!
Might there be a green flash in your future!
(Photo Credit: Mila Zinkova, taken off the Pacific Coast Highway)
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