We Belong to the Light

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I lost a beautiful tree years ago. It was big and lovely. It was seventy feet tall and shaded the biggest part of our back yard. I loved that tree. There was a swing that hung from a huge branch. I swung with my husband there. I swung with my babies there. I swung with my daddy there before he moved to heaven. It was a special place to me.

Huge storms and ants and a tornado made the tree unsafe. We watched as men with chainsaws in Cherry Pickers took the tree down bit by bit. It took quite some time to chainsaw the tree into manageable pieces to dispose of. One day, while chain sawing, I was out in the yard alone thinking about the losses and griefs that I have journeyed through. Losing this tree was such a sadness to me. I felt these words come into my spirit. You can do with this what you will, but I know they were a gift to me. Simple words came into my mind that helped me to let go of so many things that I loved: "Sometimes you have to remove what is blocking the light."

I have wondered how we get the word out to the others. How do we let the people trapped in shadow know that they actually belong to the light? I have a friend on the streets where I serve the homeless community. He struggles with schizophrenia. Sometimes he says things that don't make much sense and sometimes he says the most profound and hopeful things. He recently told me that there were cockroach Christians everywhere, but we don't need to be afraid of the light anymore. Goodness hurts when we have long sat in darkness. It takes time for our eyes to adjust, but we don't have to be afraid of the light anymore. It is meant to bring us healing. It is meant to illuminate shadowy places so that we can find our way out. 

At the beginning of the year, my husband gave me a piece of scripture memory jewelry that I wanted. It had John 1:5 on it. The light shines in the darkness and the darkness has not overcome it. Since then, I have been finding light everywhere I go. Friends have been finding it with me. I desperately needed to see that light. I thought that you might need to see it too so I'm going to catalogue it here for you. Let me know where you find the light in your life. I'd love to receive your secondhand light.

I was putting painter's tape on my stairs yesterday and opened instagram to this lovely reel by one of my favorite authors, Sean Dietrich. Sean is a person who seems to catch quite a bit of light in dark spaces. https://www.instagram.com/reel/DclyYW4zYLs/

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