Parking Lot Sunset

I call them parking lot sunsets.

Somehow, I always find myself in a store parking lot during the summer. And the sunsets are absolutely glorious. They have an orange-gold hue. It’s so striking that I am compelled to think about higher powers. If it’s awe-inspiring, it makes me think there must be some divine presence. A beauty this rich isn’t possible without it.

And somehow, in that parking lot with cars whizzing by and people moving to and from the store, I have transcendent moments. A belief in the good of our universe, in the knowledge that we are all meant, a part of this creation.

It surpasses science and settles into the core of my being the way art settles into the soul of an artist. Because maybe it was evolutionarily important for us to understand the beauty of the planet so we didn’t destroy it, but even in that design, there is something intentional.

And I am reassured that our lives matter, that the beauty of the Earth is symbiotic with the beauty that is humanity. My overwhelmed heart and soul are, for that moment, at peace with the notion that we will go on past our physical bodies and we will become a part of the magical tapestry of worlds we know and the worlds we don’t.

My dad used to say God is everywhere, but at the Mandir. If you’re ever stuck and looking for God — try a parking lot.