Rejoice even in the shadows

“It is supposed by some that religion makes people solemn, takes the sunshine out of their life, the joy out of their heart, the song out of their mouth. But the reverse of this is the truth. No other one in the world has such secrets of joy as has the Christian. Christ teaches his followers to rejoice. He bids them rejoice even in sorrow and trial.”
James Russell Miller

“There is strong shadow where there is much light.”
Johann Wolfgang von Goethe

(Spicebrush swallowtail on the meyer lemons tree / Julie Cook / 2015)

Rejoice, Rejoice. . .and again I say Rejoice. . .
Rejoice in finding the happiness and joy that is promised to you this day,
just as it is promised each and every day . . .
Despite the growing and lengthening shadows that threaten the very gift of radiant light. . .
Those shadows which grow ever more ominous and heavy,
Remember that you are a child of holy Light. . .that there is nothing which remains hidden from the knowledge of the Most High. . .not even in the darkest shadow. . .

Rejoice in the Lord always; again I will say, rejoice.
Philippians 4:4

Veiled in light

Let the veil of silence fall presently over what happened afterwards.
Silence, too, can speak out.
Lech Walesa

“I believe in Christianity as I believe that the sun has risen: not only because I see it, but because by it I see everything else.”
― C.S. Lewis

(tiny tomato blooms basking in the sun / Julie Cook / 2015)

She teases, tantalizes and titilates, dancing in and out. . .
Often hiding behind a thin gossamer veil.
Embracing with tender warmth, she soothes and caresses weary souls.
Yet like a fickle temptress, her sweet warmth can grow hot with rage. . .
It is without warning that she can assail the unsuspecting with her wicked wrath.

Yet more often than not, she greets each day sweetly . . .
In a sleepy silence. . .growing ever more beautiful and bright.
She beams in glowing radiance. . .
Yet as it is with those of intense beauty, she has her darker days of melancholy. . .
Those dreary days when she is barely present. . .
Waxing and waning, lethargic and dull. . .
She broods within herself, hidden away as if tending a deep wound or insult.

And yet in spite of any perceived slight, she will reappear in her full glory. . .
Refreshed, glowing and once again her sly coy self. . .
As she merrily seduces all into complacent assumptions.
It is in like turn that she will offer up her full majesty with a triumphant fervor–
Spinning her passions while coaxing and summoning. . .
Pulling and prying that which was not from out of the darkness. . .
Willing the lifeless upward from the black void of nothingness. . .
As once again she works her magic,
Waving and stretching her radiant arms outward over all in need of light. . .

Radiant with Glory

There is no season in all the year so beautiful, so radiant with glory, as the early autumn. There is no time when the human soul drinks in so fully the glory and beauty of nature. All objects of beauty are more beautiful while passing away from us. The closing up of a beautiful life—the fading of the holy stars in the dim light of morning—the ending of a quiet summer day and the passing away of the bright summer glory, are all more sweet and lovely as they are lost to us. The death-glow always beautifies anything that wears the trace of beauty ere it goes back to nothingness. We do not understand the secret of this principle, yet we know that it is some law of the infinite mind. ~Northern Advocate

(big tree in the front yard / Julie Cook / 2013)