With time, everyone looks up. It can be physical or metaphorical. One rediscovers the centre. One finds the source. One looks away from oneself to whatever is beyond. One looks up and beyond the immediate self-centric view one chooses to see. Physically and metaphorically, I found myself looking up from the dinner table to the light.
Later, after stories and laughter, great food, and even better company, I realised I had been looking up all evening. In doing so, I found myself embraced with acceptance, sensing I belonged, and knowing this was what community can be. Our differences do not need to define us. It is in our shared stories of love, family, and being a part of something greater than ourselves that I was reminded of the person I love to be. As Life whispered, and the echoes of the reflection linger to the start of a new day, I find myself holding the following.
Life is lived and experienced with others. I know there are times I feel alone. I have come to appreciate the sense of my longing for the centre of life itself. In being with others, Divinity, family, friends, and even strangers, the window to living life to the full is found. What happens next is the outcome of how I exercise my freedom. I help write my story as well as the stories of those around me.
Ultimately, life comes back to love, kindness, and care. This is the light of our lives. How I relate to and interact with others is shaped by the decisions I make to live with the three manifestations of light or the darkness found in living only for myself. At some point, I will face the reality of the role love, kindness, and care have. Paul said it well; “Read it for yourself in Scripture: “As I live and breathe,” God says, “every knee will bow before me; Every tongue will tell the honest truth that I and only I am God.” (Romans 14.11)
Last night, looking up and around, the light was bright.
