Reader, do you know the definition of the word 'chiaroscuro'?
If you look in your dictionary, you will find that it means the arrangement of light and dark, light and darkness together. " - from The Tale of Despereaux, by Kate Dicamillo
Everywhere around me I seem to see the lightness and darkness these days. Maybe it's the combination of endings and beginnings, with the change of seasons and start of school, with all the ensuing girl drama. It's exacerbated by the emotional flood on social media following Robin Williams' tragic suicide and then the waves of ALS ice bucket challenges with the reminder of that terrible disease with its insidious progression. And there are life and death issues closer to home: one cousin with a young daughter whose brain tumor has regrown; another cousin who's 20+ week pregnancy is threatened with dire predictions for their precious baby girl; a friend whose adult daughter accidentally hit and killed a boy with her car. As I think about and pray for these families, I am struck by how their situations make my "dark" days seem light and momentary by comparison.
Last summer, we made multiple trips to Illinois to visit my parents as my dad fought, and eventually lost, his battle with esophageal cancer. We spent hours in their living room, where a large print of Rembrandt's "The Return of the Prodigal Son" hangs over their mantle - it was my dad's favorite painting from the Hermitage in Russia, probably his favorite painting, period. It's a lovely example of chiaroscuro, where the repentant son and his ecstatic father are bathed in the bright light of God's grace and abundant love, while the older brother stands aside at right in the darkness of cold reproach and unforgiveness. |
In response to his baby's perilous condition, my young cousin
In the midst of whatever challenges we face today, this week, next month or in the year ahead, we can choose to do the same. I need to choose wisely in the days ahead, and to rely more fully on God's wisdom instead of my own selfish will and emotions. To step into His light rather than stay in my own comfortable, sometimes sullen darkness. To intentional seek out and reflect His light, rather than curse the darkness. Praying that God grants each of you all the love, mercy and grace that you need to face the day.
Trevor wrote this: "But unfairness and injustice can, and must, be positive. That unfairness opens the door for grace. Grace is more than God pardoning and forgiving my sins. Grace is the ability to say and to know in the depths of all that I am that even if Belle does not survive, God is still the Source and End of all good." In the midst of the pain and agonizing waiting that he and his wife, Dani, are experiencing, he is choosing to praise God and seek His comfort and peace. In the midst of whatever challenges we face today, this week, next month or in the year ahead, we can choose to do the same. I need to choose wisely in the days ahead, and to rely more fully on God's wisdom instead of my own selfish will and emotions. To step into His light rather than stay in my own comfortable, sometimes sullen darkness. To intentional seek out and reflect His light, rather than curse the darkness. Praying that God grants each of you all the love, mercy and grace that you need to face the day.
Let us then approach God’s throne of grace with confidence, so that we may receive mercy and find grace to help us in our time of need. - Hebrews 4:16