Perfection

Now, we have had some beautiful sunsets of late but tonight's was one of those exceptional sunsets. It was, to my mind's eye, as close to perfection as anything I can ever hope to experience.

When these special sunsets occur I cannot bring myself to photograph them. I'm not entirely certain why that is but it seems to be centered around some idea that stealing their light to make an imperfect reproduction would be a crude violation of their sanctity. It's not in the vein that I would be creating some graven image of God but rather that I would be imposing, as nearly as humanly possible, on God for a photograph. A kind of paparazzo of the Divine, if you will. And, so it is that I don't. Indeed, the only way that you can truly understand is to sit on the deck with me on summer afternoon and wait for nature to present one to you.

I rather like the Japanese concept of wabi-sabi (nothing lasts, nothing is finished, and nothing is perfect) for dealing with human endeavors. Indeed, a Japanese potter may deliberately chip or nick a piece of pottery on the bottom for emphasis of wabi-sabi. But, as for these sunsets, they aren't my creation and it's not for me to chip or nick them with a photograph.