Florida Keys Sunset…
My cousin invited us to spend the 4th of July at his place in the Florida Keys. Free lodging, good food, good friends, and the beauty of the Keys was an offer we could not turn down.
My cousin has a boat, and we went out to the reef to snorkel. I learned two things. First, without my glasses, I really could not see the fish clearly. I could make out a fish with yellow and black stripes, and a purple fish. I asked my cousin the names of those fish, and he replied, “The yellow and black striped fish is a yellow and black stripe fish, and the purple one is a purple fish.” I worry about him.
It was the next evening that my cousin suggested we go out on the water to see the sunset. I heard the sunset on the water in the Keys was like nowhere else. We took off about forty-five minutes before sunset and got in just the right spot. There was a line of storms about fifty miles off that provided the perfect frame.
The sunset was like nothing I had ever seen. The sun had a soft yellow glow, and as it sank, the sky was painted in shades of purple and pink. Sun rays shot out between the blue clouds (yes, clouds can be blue), as the purple and pink shades deepened.
My cousin had Spotify playing, and as a thousand sparkles of light played across the waves, Louie Armstrong came on, singing, “What a Wonderful World.” In case you have forgotten, the second verse is: “I see skies of blue and clouds of white; The bright blessed days, the dark sacred nights; And I think to myself, What a wonderful world.” The moment was as sacred as someone singing a hymn.
I had always heard that when the sun hits the horizon, it takes one minute for it to disappear. Not this time. The sun kissed the water and slowly began to sink into the horizon. The soft yellow glow turned into a warm orange that made you feel good to be alive. It seemed like it took the sun five minutes to be enveloped by the sea. Finally, the last silver disappeared, and the pinks and blues became a rich blanket covering the sky.
My cousin turned to me and said, “And people say there is no God.”
Human beings are the only creatures made in the image of God. This means we are the only beings who can appreciate the beauty of the world God has made. Think about it; when you walk your dog at sunset, has your dog ever stopped to admire the beauty of the colors? No. Your dog is only interested in smelling the smells left behind by other animals and reading the mail from other dogs. I have never seen a cow admire the beauty of a majestic live oak or a horse appreciate the flowing waters of a creek.
I have been blessed to see some beautiful places in my life. I’ve seen the coast of Maine from the water, stood on the rim of the Grand Canyon, canoed through Sparkleberry Swamp, snaked through Mammoth Cave, bathed in the mountain streams of the Mexican desert, walked around Cades Cove in Great Smoky Mountains National Park, been on a safari in South Africa, driven through the mountains with the leaves providing a golden carpet across the road. I have looked up and marveled at the stars on cloudless nights, stood on the concrete steps of the Old House, and watched lightning arc across the Florida night, seen the surface of the moon through my childhood telescope. One of the most beautiful sights I have ever seen is the sunrise through the fog across the green grass of the Buckhorn Ranch. Just tonight, on my way to feed cows, I saw a doe with twin speckled fawns. And now, I have seen an amazing sunset in the Keys. In each of these places, each of those times. I felt the presence of God, the grandeur of God.
Because I am made in the image of God (as are you), I can see the beauty God has made. When I consider this, I am amazed that God created a beautiful world just for us to enjoy. Elton Trueblood once prayed in the chapel of Southern Seminary, “Thank God, for all the unnecessary colors.”
My friend John Ortberg points out that technology is making us prisoners. We stay inside too much. We need to get out more, see the world God has made, the world he declared to be good. We need to marvel at his grace in creating this sparkling world.
Psalm 19:1 says, “The heavens declare the glory of God; the skies proclaim the work of his hands.”
Listen to the sky. The colors are telling you God is alive.