I had a long day.  On my way home from Family Literacy Night with the sunroof open and windows down, I felt compelled to chase the sunset.  I passed my neighborhood and headed up Richard B. Russell with the wind in my hair and the feeling of freedom coursing through my veins.  Weaving past Duke’s Creek Falls, and Raven Cliffs the jeep climbed the mountain.  On my left, were charcoal mountains and the fiery pink and orange streaks across the sky.  Cotton candy clouds glowed in the fading light like silky pink ribbons.  I raced to get to the overlook before darkness snuffed out the fire of the sunset.  The trees along my route continue to blush, just beginning their turning.  A few leaves floated to the ground as the coolness of the evening enveloped the forest.  They are the first to settle down as the autumn quilt begins.

In my rearview mirror, I noticed the nearly full moon peeking over the mountains behind me.  From this elevation, there were mountains in every direction. The moon rose to meet me the higher I climbed.  We played catch-me-if-you-can, while trying to reach the sun. As I pulled off the overlook at the top, I could see the blue gray peaks rolling out in front of me, outlined by shimmering lava.  Behind me, the moon was growing ever brighter, like a sand dollar in the inky ocean.  The clouds around the moon were illuminated into a milky white that reminded me of the foam on a cup of hot chocolate.  The sky, not yet dark due to the intensity of the color show in front, was a deep azure blue fading quickly into misty gray before finally being swallowed by the night.

I was acutely aware that I was watching both the sunset and the moonrise at the same time.  One light was fading, the other was growing brighter by the minute.  Yet in reality, the first light is the source of the second.  From this high viewpoint, what usually looks to be two completely separate events was seen as one.  One could not happen without the other.  Without the sun, the moon is just a rock.  Without the moon, the sun has nothing to reflect its glorious light.

We are like the moon.  God is the sun.  Created by him and intertwined with him to shine together, not as separate lights, but as one…shared. I saw and was grateful for the day, and the night…because one always follows the other.