To catch the sun

Early morning rays of sunlight lit up the room and I awoke. It had been downpour after downpour all week long at the beach and finally, on our last day of vacation, we had a sunrise. Rachel and I shot out of our beds and ran to the beach to make it in time for the rising. Faces still fuzzy from our nighttime repose, bodies protesting against the sudden need for a jog, and eyes still adjusting to morning light, we stood there at the edge of the water, waiting.

Once, when I was much younger, I remember vividly picturing to myself what it is like to take sin and put it in the light. I envisioned an ugly green/blackish gobby monster with hairy arms and legs that became a massive creature lurking in the dark. Along came a ray of light, and as the person pushed the monster into the light (often with the help of other people), the monster withered, writhed, and eventually wilted away to nothing as the light purified the sin. My impression was perhaps somewhat affected by my favorite movie, The Wizard of Oz and the scene in which the Wicked Witch of the West gets splashed with water and pitifully screeches, "I'm melting!!! I'm melting!!" till she is nothing more than a pile of rags. What I did not know then was that the Wicked Witch of the West could very well be myself, and I was the one who needed to be pushed into the light.

Thankfully, I was able to stand there in water and sun without melting away, but that is only because of the very real and very cleansing wash that the Lord has done in my heart and continues to do every day. It doesn't take long as a Christian to have Psalm 51 become the soundtrack of many bad mornings and late, tired nights, and hurried, irritated afternoons.

Just before the rising of the sun, you feel an awareness of its coming and know that the night is being scattered. Those who rejoice in the light are expectant of it and the good things it will do, those who are of the darkness will disdain the light and try to push it away.

And I've been that person before.

I've tried to be the darkness pushing against the light, but if there's one thing that comforts me in the hardest of times it is this: that light always overcomes. 

Suddenly there was a slipping of light above the horizon, almost as if one was peeking through a curtain to see what lay beyond. I felt like clapping my hands, my bare feet wanted to dance in the water because my bare-soul knew that it was free and full of the Son.

My heart thrilled within me at how strikingly beautiful the sun is, how I could see the fading moon when I tossed my head back and raised my arms to catch it.

And this is what we are to do each and every day: catch the Light. You cannot see in the dark, that's why we are often so unaware of the darkness within our own selves, and why we so desperately need the help of the Holy Spirit and other brothers and sisters to show us the darkness. We cannot do this "life thing" alone. It is in relationship with God and man that the monster inside of us all is pushed into that light and withered away like the witch in the Wizard of Oz when she is splashed with water. It is when we accept the free gift of God's salvation that we are able to let go of our heavy burdens and hold onto the one burden we so gratefully carry; our light burden.

She tells me to stand in such a way and a miracle happens: I now hold in my hands the golden sun and it feels like I am holding nothing, but I hold everything. I held it in my hands and was reminded of my Savior's words in a new way: Our yoke is easy and our burden is light.

My burden is light, not just in weight, but in the truth that it is shining forth into the darkness. And isn't it incredible how one smile, one catch of the eye can be an immediate transmission of light? Isn't it indescribable how the first words God ever spoke over the earth were "let there be light" and so there was and now we ourselves can choose to speak light over this ever darkening world? Is it not marvelous that the spark of mercy and forgiveness can be like sunlight spreading east and west across the sky and to the edges of the earth? 

I can catch light when I look in the mirror with a smile and see light shining back. I can catch light when I meet your eyes and don't try to hide from it, but instead allow myself to accept it and let myself be seen and known by the Light. I hold the light when I absorb the love of Christ into my own soul, and that light is then sent across the ocean like a lighthouse or sent across the table like a smile. The best part about light is that it is given. Light gives and gives and does all it can to overcome the darkness. It doesn't take up the dark, it fills it. Light fills empty places and heals shattered things, light can be penetrating and painful but it is what we need. Light is truth, and we need a lot of that these days as well. So fellow Christian, let your light shine. 

Back home now, far away from any beach sunrise, I hear the sound of rain and smell the aroma of the tea in my mug. Clouds cover the October sky and yet there is light all around me, because I am beginning to realize that the real Light we hold so closely is never going to be put out. It will not set, cannot be covered, nor shall it fade away; it shines out into eternity and, as an everlasting soul, my friend, so shall you.

(Photo credit belongs to the marvelous Rachel over at R.E. Natural Photography. She also happens to be my life-long friend and fellow bearer of light.)