Once, when I was grabbed with fear of the unknown, I had a deep conversation with my spiritual director, and he lectured me on many things. One thing that I can’t ever forget about that conversation was when he said to me, “It is hard to describe the sunset when you have only seen the sunrise.”
We all have hope of a better tomorrow, but very few of us have learnt to let go of yesterday. There are some things, people, attitudes and beliefs that you can’t take with you to the next level. I have never forgotten an experience in my first days in upper primary school. I was excited about the new stage; however, the horror came when I looked at the supply list for class. To my dismay, crayons were missing from the list. I mean, I had been through kindergarten and grades 1-3, and every year crayons were on my list. But, this time, this year, and in this grade, crayons were not needed. I asked the teacher why were crayons not included and she said, “There are some things you need to leave down there (meaning lower primary) if you want to make it up here.”
The year 2022 has begun and as usual some people have started feeling its “heat” or “cold” and are making their own conclusions. But, I tell you, “It is hard to describe the sunset when you have only seen the sunrise”. A couple moved their daughter from public to private school, and in doing so, they discovered that the public school ran about two grades behind the private. As a result, she who normally got straight A’s was now struggling just to fit in academically. She knew that it was a blessing to be in private school, but it just seemed to be so hard. The young girl with her parents invested in her learning to bring her grades up. On the last day of the year when she was promoted her parents asked how her year went. In a teary face she said, “Daddy, I’m convinced I finished stronger than I started!” The same child who cried because her GPA slipped and she didn’t have the grades to apply for a government scholarship realized that, though her year started out rough it all worked together to make her better. It doesn’t matter how your year has started, but it matters a lot how you finish it.
People are remembered for how they finish – their lives, their tenure, their relationships, their ministry. When life gets tough, God helps us run the race before us. When Vincent Foster, adviser to then-President Clinton, committed suicide in 1993, Clinton said, “It would be wrong to define a life like Vincent Foster’s in terms only of how it ended.” Nonetheless, that’s how Foster is remembered – by how he finished the race. Think also of Judas. He decided to follow Jesus. Judas heard Jesus teach. He went out two by two with the others, healing the sick and exorcising demons. Judas did a lot, such that he was even promoted from being a disciple to an apostle. Yet he is remembered solely for how his relationship with Jesus ended.
Someone else’s race might seem easier than your own, but God says, “I want you to run your own race. Don’t run other people’s race for you.” You must be convinced that you will finish this week stronger than you started! Indeed, “It is hard to describe the sunset when you have only seen the sunrise.” So, my prayer for you this week is that by sunset each day, you will be able to say those words, “I have fought the good fight. I have finished the race. I have kept the faith.”
May your week not be weak but with Him. I send you my prayerful wishes for the week. (By Fr. Ray®acc.GH)
