Driving Into the Sunset

By: Joseph J. Mazzella
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February 27, 2024

While getting a degree in English Literature had seemed a great idea in college it didn’t prove to be a wise choice when searching for work after I graduated. I was a young father with a wife and baby at home and another on the way. The only work I was able to find was as a busboy at a restaurant and I was barely making enough to eke out a living. This would get even worse one day when for no reason I could see the manager fired me. I drove home angry, sad, frustrated, worried and depressed. “What do I do now?,” I asked myself.

As I drove on the sun started to set and the sky turned the most beautiful shades of red, pink, purple and gold. At that time my faith was far less than it is today but I still felt a sense of peace as I looked at that Heavenly sight before me. I felt loved. I felt secure. And all at once I knew that everything would be alright. As the sunset started to fade I turned on the radio of my little car. At first only static played but then suddenly I heard the band Three Dog Night singing, “Celebrate! Celebrate! Dance to the music!” And while my feet couldn’t dance while I was driving, my heart did.

That is only one of many moments over the years where God in His infinite Love has touched my heart, mind, and soul when I needed it the most. Each time my anger has turned to smiles, my sadness to joy, my frustration to serenity, my worry to peace, and my depression to Love. These days I try not to seek out these moments but rather to live in them daily. I try to trust in the Love that surrounds us all, stay connected to it in my heart and soul, and share it through my writings and my life.

God’s Love is all around us: "You make known to me the path of life; you will fill me with joy in your presence, with eternal pleasures at your right hand." (Ps. 16:11 NIV). We need only to invite it into our souls. Then no matter how dark life gets the sun will continue to shine in us and through us always.

Joseph J. Mazzella

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