BEGINNING / ENDING

On occasion I have written about the scoutmaster I had when I was a young boy. He was Sam Hashimoto and was originally from Japan. He took me under his wing and became a much needed father figure. I was thinking about Sam today and a conversation we once had while fishing. The sun was beginning to set and Sam asked me what I could see. I told him I saw the sunset. He then asked me what was the meaning of the sunset. I remember thinking that was a strange question but I responded with something like it means the ending of the day. What followed was one of the neatest conversations I've ever had. I'll condense it into a brief summary. He spoke of how the sun was setting for us yet in that same moment it was rising for someone else. He explained that sunset could be viewed as the ending of the day or the beginning of the night. Sunrise could be the ending if the night or the beginning of the day. He further explained that the sunset reminds us that every experience we have in our life can be viewed as a beginning or an ending. Getting lost can be the ending of being oriented or the beginning of being rescued. He taught me that no matter the experience, we always have the power and freedom to determine whether it is a beginning or an ending. We could choose, and how we chose would bring us greater or lesser freedom and power. To this day, a beautiful sunset is to me, in great part, a reminder of freedom and choice.