Are You Wasting the DARKNESS?

 

Our lives can be thought of as paintings.

Created by dual brushes:

Our own and the Father's.

If we had our way, the painting of our lives would be airy and bright always.

And the lessons of our mistakes would be lost in the glare of unnatural brightness.

"Going on despite the darkness does all the work, while the happy arrival gets all the glory." 

- Mark Twain

The dark hues of life speak to us in ways the bright caresses of happiness never quite manage.

To be bright in a world of darkness is not easy. Do not do it to stand out to others.

Others have their own burdens to carry.

Do it to stand out to yourself in reflection later:

Here is where I endured when I wanted to give up. 

Here is where I became more than what I thought I could be.

Here is where I developed the strength to lend to others in their own time of darkness ...

if only by encouraging them to go on despite the encroaching gloom

while I stand on distant shores.