A Journey from Love, through Love, and to Love

I think everyone loves a beautiful sunrise or sunset. Artists are inspired to paint, write, and compose when faced with the beauty of waxing and waning light.

For most of us, these experiences touch us because they remind us that we are on a journey through life. Each of us is in-between the sunrise of our life and its inevitable sunset. If you don’t like thinking about death, you might want to stop reading now because that’s where this reflection is going. But we should think about our eventual demise; it’s part of life and I believe that by remaining aware of death we can make the in-between time meaningful and more fulfilling.

Don’t get me wrong. I’m not talking about an unhealthy obsession with death but just a realistic understanding that we are betwixt sunrise and sunset, and what we do now is important.

So here’s why I think it’s important. We were created out of Love, an indescribable, eternal Love. It is to that Love that we are called to return. Our lives can be described as journeys from and to Love. We were made to ultimately experience that Love as the fulfillment of our existence.

But Love isn’t just found at the sunrise and sunset of our lives. Love is what sustains us on the journey from one to the other. This is why the here and now is so important (the in-between time). True happiness and fulfillment can only happen if we use the in-between time by living this Love to the fullest extent possible. I’m not talking about those things we think make us happy—wealth, fame, power—but what will truly makes us happy. Jesus gave us the example of how to live in Love, by living for others in a spirit of compassion, mercy, and justice.
For each of us, we will have a sunset—hopefully later than sooner—but it will happen. If we live in Love, we won’t have any trouble recognizing the welcoming embrace of Eternal Love when we are finally called into this life’s sunset. And at that moment we will experience a new sunrise, more splendid than the one one that brought us into this life; indeed more splendid than anything we could ever imagine: a new sunrise into the glory of everlasting life.