One of my favorite things to do while on a cruise is to get up and watch the sun rise whether it is on the open sea or in a port of call. Today, Friday the 16th of December was no different. It was a beautiful sunrise with clouds framing a sun that found a way to peek over the horizon and then hide behind a cloud bank and then popped forth in all of its glory again a moment later. I could do this every day and rarely, when at sea, miss a chance to see the sun rise.
My revelry this morning was tempered by the thought of my mother, many of thousands of miles away, laying in a bed at our home, going through the work of dying. Sickness has ravaged her body, she is tired of the fight, but continues to fight on like a prize fighter. I talked to her yesterday by phone from St. Thomas and had a chance to connect one more time with her before she passes on. She may, or may not be alive when I arrive home on Sunday.
Sunsets happen to each of us. We work mightily while the day is hot to accomplish the many tasks, some minor, some major, some maybe of doubtless worth, while the day is young and the sun is hot. We grow up, find that special someone and marry, raise families, and find a life’s work. Sometimes we are successful, sometimes we are not, and many times we have to pick ourselves up off the floor and try again.
Soon we enter the golden sunset of our lives, supposedly the time when we will have time to enjoy travel, visit the kids and grandkids, and pass beyond the world of work. More often than not we also discover sicknesses and frailties that we haven’t had and we begin the slow decline and fight for our lives. Eventually comes that sunset time when life begins to ebb away and we pass on.
That is where the sunrise this morning gave me comfort. Sitting on that deck, I was thinking of my mother. I was thinking of the fine life she has lead. It has been a simple life. She has not been friends with the high and mighty of this earth. She has not been recognized in front of tens, hundreds, or even thousands for her accomplishments. Yet, she has lived what I consider to be am exemplary life. She has raised a good family, one with children who love her and who have tried to raise families they way she raised her. She has grandchildren who love to visit with her and who love her like their own parents. What greater tribute can there be for parents than to have children who want to be like them and raise their families like them. What more can you take with you than the love of your family, who will sorely miss you because of who you are, not because of what title you have or how many earthly possessions you might leave them. Finally, what more can you ask than to have that Heavenly Father say to you, well done my good and faithful servant, enter into the rest of your father and Lord.
I am sure that my mother will have this experience, to be told she has been a good and faithful servant. She will enter a glorious sunrise of eternal peace and happiness when she returns to her father in heaven, and there meets her mother, her father, her brothers, sisters, aunts, uncles, in-laws, and all relationships that have defined her life on this earth. The work on this earth, the trouble, the happiness, will all have been proven to be for her good. She will still work hard, but will work with a sure knowledge that others in her family, her husband, her children, her grandchildren and family will someday join her in a family relationship that will never die. What greater sunrise could any of us ask for, to have a savior who has made all of this possible and a loving father who came up with the plan for us to return to his presence and have eternal life.