Illuminated

Last night I decided to do my training at 9:30 pm. It was a decision that I would regret the next morning because I was so sore, but it was perfect that night.

The night was filled with sounds of crickets and tree lizards loudly letting the world know of their existence. There were even some lightning bugs dancing in the night.  As headlights beamed across my path, it took me back to another time and place.

When we lived in Phoenix, my friends and I would play this game that I can no longer remember the name of. What I do remember, though, is that it was fantastic and I loved playing it.

We would play in the yards and busy street in one of our neighborhoods at dark. Only the street lights would give us the light we needed to be outside playing so late. The goal was this: if a car turned down the street, which of course would have its headlights beaming, you had to be unseen by it. You could do this by hiding if you were quick enough or by diving into the closest yard. I always chose diving.

The thing about diving into yards, though, was that they were mostly xeroscaped, meaning, laid out with careful, beautiful designs with a lot of rocks, some grass, and some cacti. At the end of the night, it seemed the more scraped up you were by the rocks, the better you did at the game. Of course, those who dove into cacti were champions!  I was never a champion.

As all these memories flooded led me to reflect on this verse:

But everything exposed by the light becomes visible—and everything that is illuminated becomes a light. Ephesians 5:13

We can try to hide in the darkness. We can even try to dive quickly out of the path of light. The light will always shine and everything will be exposed. The good, the bad, the unseen, the shameful, the scars from the cacti we dove into . . .everything will become illuminated.

We are not meant to walk in darkness. We are meant to  have the light of life.

When Jesus spoke again to the people, he said, ‘I am the light of the world. Whoever follows me will never walk in darkness, but will have the light of life.’” –John 8:12