Wasteland

This song is by one of my favorite groups, Need to Breathe.  It's the music that's on my phone for when I don't have internet to stream from another source.  This song continues to speak to me though I have listened to it a million times.  

I'm an optimist.  Well, at least most of the time.  I like to think that I encounter situations trusting and hoping that God is present.  Sometimes though I get overwhelmed by darkness.  This darkness can come from the negativity that I wrote about yesterday, it can come from situations in which I have little power or control, it can even come from being weary.  

Today the weather has been really interesting here in Big Rapids, MI.  It would snow and blow really bad, with no visibility and darkness, to give way only a few minutes later to blue skies and sunshine.  When I see the sun in the winter months I am always tempted to just go outside and lay in the snow so I can soak it up.  The light really does give me joy.  It reminds me of things to come, like warm summer days in a kayak, or moments of quiet paddle-boarding on the lake.  Just a glimpse of the sunshine fills me with hope!

My favorite part of this song says: 

Yeah in this wasteland where I'm livin'There is a crack in the door filled with lightAnd it's all that I need to get byYeah in this wasteland where I'm livin'There is a crack in the door filled with lightAnd it's all that I need to shine

The video above shows this image of young sprouts coming up through the soil.  I imagine we have all taken notice of the first flower we see in the early spring.  We have probably all had house plants that tilt toward the sunshine, soaking in the light of life.  All it takes is a crack of light, just a crack.

In 2 Corinthians we read:

If you only look at us, you might well miss the brightness. We carry this precious Message around in the unadorned clay pots of our ordinary lives. That’s to prevent anyone from confusing God’s incomparable power with us. 

When I think of clay pots I almost automatically think of an experience I had in college.  I wanted to make something out of clay and had a friend who took me to the studio.  I tried for quite a while to throw the clay in the middle of the wheel (missing more often than not), to mold and shape a lump of clay into something use-able.  It seemed impossible.  I'd have one side looking good, add a little pressure to the other side only to have it all look like a lop-sided mess!  Unadorned clay pots offers the image of imperfection, maybe even cracks.  But just think, it is only through the cracks, through the brokenness that the light can get through, that the light can shine and offer new growth, and new life.

Sometimes situations can really feel like we are living in a wasteland.  It is in these times we must seek out the Life-Light.  Then, as we are in the process of growing we let that same light slip out of the cracks and blemishes in our lives. That's when we really learn to shine.

Shine on, friends.  Shine on.