A Funny Thing Happened on the Way to Shul

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Dear Peyton,
      I first feel the need to apologize to my thousands upon thousands of readers world-wide for not writing for a long time. To be totally honest, I have been too busy basking in the orange and blue glow of the aftermath of the Broncos Super Bowl Victory to feel compelled to write a new blogg post. But that all changed this morning. Because a funny thing happened on the way to synagogue. You see, dear Peyton, it was about 6:29 AM this morning, and as I hurriedly got out of my car,  my jaw dropped. I could not help but notice one of the most magnificent sunrises in recent memory. Usually when I observe a sunrise, I focus on the sun making its entrance into the vast sky from the Eastern Horizon. But today, as I was naturally headed west-bound as I approached my shul, I was looking at the western part of the sky, which contained one of the most beautiful clouds I have ever seen in my life. I was glad I had my camera handy, and I snapped a few pictures, and went on my way to my daily morning meeting with G-d.
      During my meeting with G-d I was able to reflect on an incredibly profound lesson from that experience. The first thing I realized was how grateful I was that I was awake to witness that surreal sunrise. And I thought to myself that, as a result of my being awake every morning, I pretty regularly am able to bask at the beauty of the vast colorful Colorado morning sky. And I thought to myself, how bad I feel for all of those people who never get to experience this because they are sleeping, or inside, or are otherwise too busy. And I realized, that unfortunately, this is a phenomenon that occurs in many other spheres of our lives. How many times do we miss out on a profound experience because we were either sleeping or too busy distracted with something else? I am embarrassed to admit how many times my Better Half has called my attention to something ridiculously cute my baby was doing, which I had been missing until that point because I was reading about how Marshawn Lynch has been spending his retirement rapping on camels in Egypt, (for more on Marshawn check this out), some absurd comments Donald Trump had made, or what he was tweeting about chockers and "little Marcio."
      I also reflected how, ironically, sometimes we miss out on experiences because we are too busy trying to capture them. I specifically remember this past summer, as I was hiking near a magnificent waterfall in the Golan Heights in Israel. I deliberately left my phone on the bus, so as not to risk breaking it. As we came out of the hike after a late afternoon swim in a natural spring of water, we were treated to a surreal Bronco orange and blue sunset. I instinctively tried to grab my phone to snap some pictures, but quickly remembered my phone was on the bus. With no other choice, I stopped what I was doing, and admired G-d's masterful handiwork. I experienced His magnificent sunset. And it was specifically because I do not have any pictures of that sunset, that I will remember it vividly for the rest of my life.
     All of us have the opportunity to experience profoundly magnificent events every day of our lives. The question is if we will wake up, and actually do so.

Forever Yours,
Danny Wolfe

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