I love sunsets. I know, you scientists out there will just tell me it’s about refracted light, about the angle of incidence at which the sun’s rays hits the atmosphere at, but I am often moved by sunsets. I’ve seen lots of good ones on my vacation. It’s amazing how sunsets turn plain or even dull landscapes into gorgeous ones. The shadows and the richer colors highlight details we might tend to miss. Any good photographer will tell you that morning and evening are the best times to shoot landscape pictures. (And let it suffice to say I have
way more experience with sunsets than with sunrises.)
I was thinking today about perspective. A sunset gives us a different perspective on our surroundings. A perspective more in touch with beauty, with majesty, with color, with contour, with the grandeur of Creation. I wonder how I can be more in touch with God’s perspective on this world. How can I come to see people in the same way that God sees them? I’m not saying that everything in this world is beautiful, there is a lot of ugliness that can be attributed to sin.
But we do read in the Bible that God created people in his image (Genesis 1.26). And even though the image of God has been badly marred by sin, it is still there. Further, God wants to redeem every one of his creatures, if they will turn from their selfish ways and turn to him (2 Peter 3.9).
I want to have a “sunset perspective” on the landscape of the people I encounter. How can I see every person as someone with potential, someone who can come closer to Jesus Christ, experience his mercy, and reflect his character to the world (2 Corinthians 3.18)? How can I act in such a way towards all people that it makes them want to follow Jesus more closely (1 Corinthians 11.1)? This is a daunting task, but I think to begin with I need to “have the same attitude of mind Christ Jesus had…” (Philippians 2.5) It comes when I set aside my selfish desires and look with eyes of compassion on people around me. (Matthew 9.36)
