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I am from the South. I am a sunlight junkie. The house I grew up in was a mile off the Mississippi Gulf Coast. My friends and I walked to the beach daily. As the song says: “Sunlight on my shoulders makes me happy” (John Denver, 1974).
Living in the Midwest, I find winter to be a difficult time. When the time change kicks in and the weather turns gray, I take every opportunity to turn my face to the sun and soak in the light. Once in awhile, I pull out the small portable sun lamp and sit in front of its light for a bit. It’s amazing how the presence or absence of sunlight can affect the mind and body.
The psalmist understood the importance of light to the spirit. “For it is you who light my lamp; the Lord my God lightens my darkness” (Psalm 18:28).
In the New Testament, Jesus is described as the light of the world. John describes Jesus as the “true light that gives light to everyone” (John 1:9). The New Testament also says that God is light. “This is the message we have heard from him and proclaim to you, that God is light, and in him is no darkness at all” (1 John 1:5).
Sometimes, when the world seems like a thunderstorm and nothing but clouds, you have to turn your face to the Son and soak in the Light…
when, after time and effort, you realize that you are still the center of your own problem,
when you want to do good and right and just can’t,
when you want to be good and right, but just aren’t,
when you are too much of this and too little of that,
when there’s just nothing you can do about it,
Turn your face to the Son and soak up His Light.
“He has shown you, O man, what is good. What does the Lord require of you? To act justly and to love mercy and to walk humbly with your God” (Micah 6:8).
Copyright@TA Boland 2023
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