THE PURPOSE OF LIFE - Fall Equinox 2022

It has been an extremely hot (and long) summer in Utah this year. Today officially ended the summer season. I took my family on an evening hike to watch one of the last summer sunsets. A good way to say goodbye to summer. When I hike with my family, I usually am the last one to summit since I stay behind to take photos. As my last daughter was almost at the top,  I saw my wife reach down to help her up. I snapped the below photo of her doing so.  I believe that the purpose of this life is to help each other ascend. As a friend, parent, spouse, neighbor, we would do well to outstretch our arms to elevate  those we have relationships with. Unfortunately we live in a world were we tear down, criticize, judge, and block other from reaching their full potential. I know I need to be better at doing this. Here are a few photos of our sunset hike together as a family.  

You can see one of my kids with upraised arms on the far right of the photo on top of the mountain. 

Today is the Fall Equinox. I typically wake up early in the morning and head into the mountains and hike up to where I can watch the sunrise on the solstices and equinoxes. Instead, this morning my wife and hiked up together to a beautiful waterfall instead of a mountain peak and watched the sun come up over the falls. We had never hiked to Gloria Falls before. It was absolutely breathtaking. So grateful to observe this day with my wife. 

Gloria Falls in Little Cottonwood Canyon on September 22, 2022

Sunrise over Gloria Falls on September 22, 2022

Sidenote: My friend posted the following on social media today. I asked him for permission to repost what he wrote. These are his words, not mine. I thought he did a great job in capturing the importance of the Fall Equinox today. 

    Today is both the fall equinox and the anniversary of Joseph Smith obtaining the ancient record known today as the Book of Mormon. His wife, Emma, was there with him.

    As to the fall equinox, it is designed, in part, to point our minds to both a temporal and spiritual harvest after a hard and diligent labor on earth. This equinox is meant to be noticed by all:
    "And God said, Let there be lights in the firmament of the heaven to divide the day from the night; and let them be for signs, and for seasons, and for days, and years."
    As to Joseph obtaining the record, Joseph was only able to do this after a four year maturing process with heaven. The culmination of this process can be rightly called a "harvest" after his diligent labor. Little did he know, that the plates he obtained coincided with the Jewish Holy Day Rosh Hashanah on September 22nd, 1827. A Holy Day of new beginnings and a new year. That is no coincidence.