Sunlight and Shadows

I learn so much from my life up here on the hill.  Sunlight...and shadow.  How I love to see the Caney hills in all their glory.  But my favorite time is at sunset...or late afternoon when shadows from clouds move across their flanks in ever changing waves.  Bright green to dusky purple.  First one valley lit up and glowing only to be plunged into darkness in the next second or two.

The last few weeks have been difficult for many of us.  Life comes and goes.  We celebrate...those beginning and those ending.  The peace I find on my porch in the evening has brought a few thoughts to mind.

What would life be like with only sunshine?  It is trite, but true.  We don't appreciate what we have until it is no longer there.  The coolness of the valley we walk in sometimes blinds us to what we have experienced in the warmth of the sun as we climbed higher up the hill.  I began to realize that sometimes shadows are actually angel wings covering us and giving us shelter from the sorrow that we feel.  We don't always feel comfort, but it is there and waiting for us to accept it and move on.  

Move on we do.  Into the bright light of day and joy and relief from the burden we have borne.

What would our lives be like without the contrast of shadow and sunlight?  We would have nothing to appreciate when the light was gone.  Just bright day after bright day.  I must confess than when I am in the valley I truly wish for ease and comfort and light.  I wonder if I will ever feel that warmth and ease again.

But then it comes.  The sun appears on the hill.  I climb up and over that ridge.  Shadows still await me but step by step I gather courage to go on.  

Step by step..from shadow into sunlight.