Light and Hope

Most days I get together with the ladies (the #yayas) and we walk.  We talk, solve world problems and yeah, walk.  Anywhere between 2.5 and 3 miles at a clip.  My friend Keri and I walked 4.5 miles last Monday simply because the beautiful day with it's sunshine and cool breeze beckoned.  Funny - for most of us, darkness and night don't seem to have the same appeal.

If you're a science geek like me you know that darkness isn't a condition in and of itself - it is the absence of light.  We all know that there are seasons where the days are "shorter" and it is dark when we get up and dark at dinner.  I cannot imagine living somewhere in the world that suffers darkness for days on end.  I would lose my mind, I know it.  Because for me, beloved, with the dawn (and the sunrise) comes hope. 

As a woman who has a congenital, incurable eye disease [https://www.fightingblindness.org/diseases/retinitis-pigmentosa?gclid=CjwKCAiAhreNBhAYEiwAFGGKPHlHN6XxeG6eHIjKGJV8dvhnVXZ4HXZUbHj7tF1B4pc1bo5fmD_f6xoCZiYQAvD_BwE] 
being the dark means, physically, I cannot see.  And it is STRESSFUL.  Now that it is dark outside in the mornings, there is a small tactical flashlight that is my companion and I am grateful for it. As grateful as I am for the bright orange fireball of desert sun that ultimately makes it's way to the sky to signal that a new day has dawned and with it, hope and new mercies. 

Understanding depression and emotional health issues, one thing I know is that nighttime is the hardest.  The absence of light means that the suffering soul is cast physically into more darkness. As a woman of faith, I claim the promise of 1 John, chapter 1, verse five that says "This is the message we have heard from him and declare to you: God is light; in him there is no darkness at all. "

I don't know what is happening in your life today, Beloved but this I know:  There IS hope.  Sometimes that hope is just a sunrise away.  And, because it IS always darkest before the dawn, I have a flashlight.  But, I also know the Light of the World.  And regardless of the darkness that is swirling around us -- whatever is threatening our peace, can be met head on when we allow the light to enter.  If it's dark in the room you're in - turn on the light.  But, for the darkness in your heart and life, I invite you, this Advent Season to welcome the Light of the World into that darkness.  Where He is there is no darkness at all.  

Sending you GREAT love on this #masterpieceMonday

Coach A 

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