I am having trouble believing it is February with the pseudo-Spring weather today. Here in one of my favorite Denver parks I am sitting & scribbling down my thoughts in my moleskin to the tune of a soft breeze & a warm sun that is leaving my fair skin with a cherry glow & a few new freckles.
There is nothing particularly inspiring about this moment other than what my senses are reminding me. To my right is a playground with a young boy being pushed on a swing by his mother. I hear wood chips lining the floor of the playground scatter each time the mother steps forward to push her son & the dull squeak of the swing that follows. Over my left shoulder I see an old baseball field with long afternoon shadows cast from the mountainous overhead lights. I close my eyes & can smell the dirt of the field, just as it was when my dad was teaching me to throw a baseball the first time in our pasture back home & then on my first tee-ball diamond. My eyes open & head lifts to see, in front of me, the park with its wide spread withered, brown grass that is crunchy beneath my feet as I occasionally walk around talking to passerby friends, to my self & to God. Extending out of the thirsty grass are the barren winter trees with branches outstretched like arms with open hands toward this February sun.
There is light everywhere I look right now & I hear it too; that laughing joy that light carries with it. In the middle of this day, the sun is reaching everything without discrimination. Each metal lamp post I see shines brightly & startles my my darkened eyes. Each of my senses are readjusting; re-familiarizing themselves with the light & sweetness that is hard to come by in some seasons. I say quietly, "Thank you, for all of this."
Now, each of my senses are more acute than just a moment before. I hear past the wood chips & rusty squeak of the swing as the mother pushes her son higher. Her small whispers of love to him float along the light breeze into my ears, as does the boy's laugh as his little arm is outstretched reaching up for the same sun shining on me right now. My eyes close again & I hear the warm wind ease the tired hands of the trees around me with a dance & embrace. An occasional pine tree in the distance shares its refreshing scent with me. Each of my sense are becoming overwhelmed & it is effecting my heart. There is a light here today that no darkness can understand.
All of this subtle beauty & light reminds me of a truth I often forget, that there is a light in me. Just as the sun on this day, I can share a light without discrimination. My light looks like love & it feels like gentleness. I can stand tall always letting it flow from my hands as I work, from my mind as I think, from my tongue as I speak. There is a light within me that cannot be extinguished by even the greatest darkness of this life. This light in me will burn brighter, not for myself, but for you.
