A Higher Plane

A few days ago I was driving the girls to school about 7:30 in the morning. As I turned east on 13th street, the sun was a medium-bright orange orb hanging just above the street and the horizon. It was close to the equinox and the sun rose just about due east that day.
All of us were looking at the phenomenon, and one of the girls simply said “wow”. I think she was truly impressed by the sight, and so were the others that took the time from their chattering to look for just a few seconds at what God unfolded before them.
In today’s world, we are not easily impressed. We can send instant messages to Australia and the space shuttle. We have at our fingertips billions of pages of information. Our automobiles think for us and guide us to our destinations. We can receive hundreds of television and radio channels on private services such as cable tv and satellite radio. We talk long distance with the ease of punching in some numbers on a keypad.
The girls that are staying with us don’t remember George Bush senior in the White House. They don’t recall the Gulf War, except through history. Greenbar and DOS is foreign to them. And it’s been a very long time since anyone has actually dialed a telephone.
The sight only lasted a few seconds until it was obscured by trees and other objects. But it was enough that some of us, anyway, stopped for just a second or two and enjoyed the view. I have to wonder how may other commuters on their way to work or school that day saw and marveled. I would hope that many that day took their lives a step higher, if only for a few seconds, and got out of the rut of daily existence to enjoy a higher plane.