The Most Beautiful Place on Earth

And a Quiet Prayer at Sunset

Most people love the beach. I’m more of a mountain person myself, but I get it. The place where land and water meet, where earth and sky dance with color, really is a most beautiful place.

To most people’s surprise, I’ve been known to quip, “I hate the beach.” But it would be more accurate to say, “The beach hates me.” The only gift the beach has ever given me is more skin cancer, so I avoid it like the plague, or rather, like cancer.

I do like the beach, however, for one purpose: to stand at the water’s edge, letting the tide lap my bare feet, while listening to the waves as they quiet my soul. I will only go to the beach when the sun is low, hanging just above the horizon, when the light is fading, slanted and soft.

It’s there, in those brief moments between day and night, I can safely savor a quiet glimpse of its beauty.

I’ve often wondered why we are collectively so drawn to the beach. Besides its obvious oceanic beauty, there really is something quite mysterious, even majestic about it.

Then I came across a passage that captures another perspective — saying, it’s “the intersection of rock (‘one of the most masculine things in the world’) and sea (‘one of the most feminine things in the world’)”:

They’re deeply satisfying together, and we can’t quite analyze why we find that satisfaction and that peace and that sense of rightness. . . . The shore is the most popular place on earth. Waterfront property is the most expensive property anywhere in the world. Because that’s where the sea and the land meet. The land without the sea is kind of boring, desert. The sea without the land is kind of boring. When are we going to land the ship? But the place where they meet, that’s where all the action is. And that’s where we want to be.* (Peter Kreeft)

I had never thought about it quite like that, but something about it rings true. When we behold complementary pairs in nature, we discover a mysterious beauty. God must have designed it that way on purpose.

A beach sunset (or sunrise) represents the combined beauty of three sets of complementary pairs in nature — day and night, earth and heaven, land and sea.

It’s as if we’re beholding a painting of the first three days of creation.

On Day 1, God separated light from darkness.

On Day 2, God created an expanse, the sky, as distinct from the waters below.

On Day 3, God gathered the waters in one place and let dry ground appear.

So, whenever we stand on the shore, watching the sun dip beneath the expanse, behind the water’s furthest edge, we’re seeing the handiwork of our Creator as three complementary pairs in nature converge for a few brief moments.

It’s no wonder a beach sunset is otherworldly.

To be struck with awe and wonder when these complementary pairs in nature come together — what a gift from our Creator.

I don’t live at the beach, but on most evenings, I will step onto my front porch with intentional pause, to watch the light God hung in the sky. I like to think of every sunset as a promise, knowing that Light will come again soon.

Wherever you are today, I encourage you to press pause near the end of those daylight hours and step outside at that moment when the sun begins to usher in the night, and perhaps whisper a quiet prayer . . .

Thank you, Lord, for this daily beauty that speaks of your majesty and reminds us that Light will come again soon, just as you will too.

Shalom.

Denise

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A Few Notes…

*I came across the quote by Peter Kreeft in The Wisdom Pyramid by Brett McCracken.

*While Waiting for Morning: An Invitation to Pray is available. If you’re like me and you prefer to hold a printed book in your hands, you can find a copy at Barnes and Noble or Amazon.

*Thank you for your vote of confidence when you tap on the “heart” at the top of each post. And, as always, you are welcome to share these words with a friend.

*And lastly, no part of this newsletter — nor anything I have ever published — has been made with Artificial Intelligence (AI) or ghostwriters. All of my words, including any accidental typos, are my own, except for when I quote others with appropriate citations and links.