Shadows

It happened quickly.  In the middle of the rushed repetitiveness of our morning routine.  Climbing into the back of the suburban to get the boys out for school.  Vaughn pointing out all the cars of those in attendance.  Dominic slurping down his last sip of milk.  The regular, “Come on, hurry up buddy, let’s go…”  Taking a moment to let Vaughn jump out of the suburban as if he was flying like Superman.  And with his feet hitting the ground- with a sudden turn- just like that the monotony was broken.

“Whoa!  Momma, look!!  I’m so bigger!!”  Thinking he was referring to his impressive leap from the suburban, I almost dismissed him.  But then I realized what he meant.  He was pointing to his shadow.  And as we turned and walked toward the entrance, we marveled at our shadows.  In which we were easily twice our size.

If only he could always keep that perspective.

shadow– noun.  a dark figure or image cast on the ground or some surface by a body intercepting light  verb.   to case a gloom over; cloud

Shadows.  They creep into every area of our life.  They intercept our source of light and begin to shed a looming sense of doom as if there is nothing we can do that will allow our situation to be overcome.  Somewhere between three and thirty, the amazement of our shadow turns to resentment and fear.  We lose sight of the light, and our shadows become infinitely larger than they actually are.  And with that, we are overcome.  We don’t see how it will ever work out.  We don’t see how the shadow will ever go away.

Do you know when you see a shadow?  When your back is turned from the light.  If you were to turn around and look into the light, the shadow would still be there.  Just as large.  But you wouldn’t see it… because you would be focused on the light.

It doesn’t matter what you are facing; it doesn’t matter how big your shadow seems.  If you turn around, and face the Light, the daunting shadow behind you will seem much less overwhelming.  You will find yourself facing the Son who is able to handle any shadow you encounter.  Today, remember you are “so bigger.”  Turn around.  Face the Light.  Lose sight of the shadows…