Event outcomes, from experience, always feel permanent. The joy from a great concert feels like it will last forever. The pain from a loss etches itself on one’s heart so intensely that one cannot see any possibility of healing. The darkness which unfolds when one’s fears, doubts, and uncertainties grow unchecked is so intense that I struggle to remember the power of light and hope.
As I watch a dawn emerging this morning, the transitory nature of our lives is vividly on display. I have come to see the light of a new day as a unique invitation to the day which is now beginning. Darkness giving way to light as relentless and repeating lesson reminders.
One best understands opportunity with the benefit of how much it is needed. I talk of the day beginning with the dawn, and yet in most cases the day is already into the second quarter. Six hours have passed. The darkness of the night has reached its peak and is not fighting a losing battle against the power of light. When I experience the darkness with clarity, the magnitude of an invitation to embrace the light and opportunity to live out hope takes on new meaning. It is important to remember the cycle highlighted by the psalmist and replayed out in recurring ways across history. “Their kings chained and hauled off to jail, their leaders behind bars for good.” (Psalm 149.8)
In the darkness as well as the light, one is called to believe and live out this belief. The view that the darkness is permanent, of the battle being lost, can be seen in the context of one’s cause being just and right. When I believe in the permanence of love, compassion, and care victory, my behavior shifts. I catch myself moving from my position as a victim to one of influence and catalyst. It is no longer my agenda. I am a proactive ambassador for hope and possibilities. Everything is focused on what could be, not what I see within my reach.
Seeing love as permanent changes everything.
