During the Women’s Mission Fellowship retreat, I had the opportunity to visit the Salvation Army retreat center in New Jersey.

Overlooking the beautiful lake, surrounded by peaceful scenery, I felt as though I had returned to the homeland of my heart—a place more than sufficient for rest. Especially at dawn, when I stepped out to the lakeshore through the beads of morning dew, I could see the water’s color and the entire landscape shifting moment by moment.

In the early morning, the lake’s surface fills with rising mist, as if each wisp has sprouted wings. A deep stillness blankets the lake, as though a heavenly maiden might descend at any moment. The boundary between land and water becomes almost indistinguishable, yet the mist never lingers long.

Breaking the silence, a diligent family of bronze-winged ducks glides in from somewhere unseen, landing softly on the water to greet the morning.

From the far ends of the earth, sunlight rises and races toward us as though riding a fiery chariot. Trees and grass, rocks and insects, deer and birds—all awaken in the bustle of the sun’s arrival. Every living creature begins its day, quietly embraced by the arms of light. These are the many faces of time that our eyes encounter.

As I stroll along the lakeshore, I am reminded of a profound truth: Time is one of the most fair and impartial gifts in the world.

Regardless of wealth or poverty, age or stage of life, race or background, time is one of God’s most equitable gifts to us all.

— Yoon WanHee, May 26, 1998