WHERE THE LIGHT SHINES THROUGH

Scrolling through the news and social media- these are the moments that leave me feeling so overwhelmed and utterly helpless.

I want to scream at the top of my lungs, but I have no words to say. I want to run and give everyone affected by any tragedy a hug, tell them the world is still good, and that everything is going to be alright. But I can't hug everyone in Puerto Rico, everyone in Houston or Las Vegas. I can't hug those in Somalia struggling to put food on the table, those experiencing racism in a free country, or those in Europe affected yet again by a terrorist attack. I physically cannot.

I cannot hold brokenness together or bring peace to a nation at war within itself. Although everything within me is willing to go the distance and do it all, I cannot fix this world.

This realization makes me want to shrink back. What can I say? What can I do?

I am still able to live my days normally. I still have a job, I still paint and draw. I spend my days dreaming because I am so hopeful for what is to come despite what has been.

What good is this?

What can hope change in a world devastated by nature and evil intentions?

Everything.

It can change everything.

The same way the sun’s dawn changes night to day. The same way good overcomes evil and love conquers hate. It is hard to know how to respond, especially when it is one thing after another. It is hard not to feel utterly helpless or useless but this is not the time to back down or shrink away. If I have hope still, and if I can say something, create anything to give hope to those who have none then it is all worthwhile.

These are the days when what we believe and what we declare to place our hope in will truly stand out. If you have hope, is it not for times like these? For the moments when everything crumbles and everyone wonders if the sun will rise again- and you believe it will. In the same way light contrasts dark, if ever there were a time when it could be so evidently seen- it is now. One might even go as far as to say that hope is the most valuable thing one can find and hold onto, especially now.

Hope that good is still here.

Hope that this is not the end.

Hope that will not fail us, leave us behind, or ever forget us.

Hope that knows our name and walks with us.

A Hope, that is ever for us and never against us.

If you have such a hope and you know it’s name then please, be bold. This is not the time to shrink back, these are the days when what we believe should affect everything about how we live.

Please, say prayers before typing status’.

Please, let your prayers be on purpose, not a check list.  Say them and mean them, but let those words inspire you to action. As Bob Goff says, ‘Only action becomes love.’ And love, is the greatest thing we are all hoping to see in this world today.

Not tomorrow, but today.

Not there, but here.

Let the light shine through.