"Using the same old materials of earth, air, fire, and water, every twenty-four hours God creates something new out of them. If you think you're seeing the same show all over again seven times a week, you're crazy. Every morning you wake up to something that in all eternity never was before and never will be again. And the you that wakes up was never the same before and will never be the same again either." ~Frederick Buechner

Last night I was driving in my car minding my own business when…boom…there was the Sun as fire-red brilliant as I have ever seen it. It was setting in the west and I happened to be driving past a beautifully groomed golf course, the grass a luscious green, providing a stage for this Hollywood style ending to a day. I strained my ears to listen for whatever sun-setting music must be playing somewhere. No music. Just the pulsing colors of fire filling the sky. It was a 'Wow!' moment stuck right in the middle of my week.

Certainly I have seen amazing sunsets before but this one seemed somehow special. Maybe it wasn't the sunset at all that was different. Maybe it was me. Perhaps whatever had happened in my day had created the perfect soil for me to be able to see the beauty of the setting sun in a new way, with new eyes, sacred eyes. Whatever it was, I knew that the ending to this April day was anything but same old, same old. 

If we give ourselves room to really think about the experience of our living we might come to the same realization as Frederick Buechner did. When I read his words, I was reminded how, sometimes, as we begin our worship on a Sunday morning, I remind those gathered that there has never been a moment like the one we are sharing. The particular group of people there have never been together before. Though most know one another well, there are always a few guests who cause us to be something different than we were only a few hours earlier when we raised our heads from our pillows.The circle that has gathered has never been before and will not be again. Fascinating to think about, isn't it?

What if we took this realization seriously? What if we approached each morning, each day, for the fresh start it truly is? What if we opened our eyes ready to step out in a new way, filled with the hope of what we might bring to the world that has never been brought before? I find this prospect exhilarating. Do you? Somehow it seems to me that  it connects us with the fragility and the blessing of our living. We are called to be creators and co-creators with the Holy using, perhaps the same old materials, but in anything but the same old ways. Every day .And not one of our days can be repeated in the exact same way. Each one is a unique experience. 

And if that is the case, it seems the only real way to live is to savor them all.