Defining Moments

By Jerry Mack Grubbs

“What was the most embarrassing moment of your life?” asked a friend this week. Without question, an experience sprang to life from a cobweb of memories. Before I uttered a word in response to her, I had relived that event as though it had happened yesterday. Some stories don’t need to be told and others shouldn’t be told. My experience might fall into both of those categories. I said that I would write about my most embarrassing moment and share it at some future time. I did write of that event and planned to share it as my point to ponder this week. At least that was my plan until I took an early morning walk and my mind changed gears.

Stepping out the door before daylight, I witnessed a beautiful Fall moon. We have had rain for the past few days and the clear sky was a welcome change. As night turned to day the shadows of darkness gave way to thin rays of light shimmering on the Great Salt Lake. There was beauty all around me even with the thin purple hue of pollution in the valley below. When you live in the foothills with the mountains to the East, there is full daylight bending over the mountain range long before you actually see the morning sun. To see the sun as it climbs its way above the horizon can be breath taking.

The most beautiful sunrise I have ever seen was in Baja. That day the sun poked its sleepy eye from far out across the watery horizon of the Sea of Cortez. In the predawn of that day I headed to the beach for a peaceful walk along the wet sand. It appeared that the whole world was asleep and I had the sand and sea all to myself. That was when it happened; the distant horizon took on a glow and bands of light began to streak across the dark blue water. It only took an instant before the whole sea was flooded with light. That huge ball of orange flame appeared to rise right out of the water. I had witnessed it. I looked around and saw once again that I was all alone. I knew that I would never be able to fully describe the beauty of what I had seen in a way that someone else could see what I saw, feel what I felt. It was a defining moment for me. My immediate desire was to share it with someone I loved. The feeling of wanting to share that moment with someone was so strong I could feel my eyes beginning to grow moist.

That experience and other defining moments in my life are precious. There is certainly not a defining moment or a gorgeous sunrise that occurs each day of my life but I have a little routine that helps remind me of the approaching close of the day, the sunset. The internet tells me the exact time of the setting of the sun so I often set my watch to alert me ten minutes before sunset. Some days when my alarm goes off I go to the window and see it with my eyes. Other times I just briefly close my eyes and relive a previous sunset or the sunrise I witnessed in Baja. These moments bring stillness to my spirit, calmness to my mind and warmth to my heart.

My desire is not to draw you into my defining moments but to have you reflect on your own defining moments. Those events can cause your hardness to melt, your fears to flee and your love to swell for those you hold dear. At a different time, in a different setting I will share my most embarrassing moment but that wasn’t a moment that defined me. It was just a set of events that happened a long time ago. Today I ask you to recognize the moments that define you and share them with those you love. If you look for me and can’t find me I am probably in Baja, walking barefoot on a deserted beach, watching a sunrise, at least in my mind.