Finding the light

The other day I was walking my dog in the evening along the river trail.  It was a wonderful time of the day where the heat from the sun was just giving way to the cool air of the night.  As I was walking I happened to catch a glimpse of the mountains as they glowed red with the last rays of the setting sun and took this picture.  I couldn't help and think of what an ideal time this was.  The river flowing quietly on the right hand side, the green fields and trees rustling gently in the breeze, the glow of the eastern mountains reflecting the setting sun in the west.  Truly a remarkable moment in time.  It seems to me that most of us, not all mind you, would enjoy a setting like this to just be in the moment and enjoy the majesty and beauty that surrounded us.  There was hardly anything that I could find that was dreary or gray.

Fast forward a week or so and the bright sun of the day had sought refuge behind the darkening gray skies of an Autumn rain.  The world around was washed out both in water and in color.  The warmth of the sun was not to be seen and all around life just seemed to be in a state of lowness.  Looking to the east, west, north and south presented the same image of gray clouds, damp earth and a overshadowing of all in between.  I was driving home after visiting with a wonderful lady and her mother.  They were facing struggles that come with caring for someone near the end of their life.  The challenges that faced them were not small and mental and emotional prices had been paid and continued to be paid.  This may have added to the somber feeling I got as I looked around at all the gray skies that loomed above me, filling the sky completely.  As I continued to drive, ever so slightly I began to see a faint splash of color highlighted against the eastern sky.  With childlike curiosity I continued to watch as this faint color grew brighter and larger.  Memories as a child of experiencing this event began to come back and the joy began to flood throughout my thoughts and feelings.  Slowly over time that splash of color became a beautiful full sized rainbow.

Though I could not see it myself, I knew that somewhere the sun had found a way to break through the gloom and share it's rays with the earth once again creating this wonderful display of color and light.  Focusing on the rainbow I continued to be amazed at how beautiful it was and how perfect it seemed.  Though the rainbow didn't last long and quickly faded back into the gray from whence it came, the memory of that rainbow stayed with me for the rest of the day.  That little splash of light and color helped to turn a gray and dreary day into one of beauty and light.

As I was pondering upon these two experiences I began to think that this is a wonderful metaphor for life itself.  I think most of us appreciate our lives when they reflect my first experience.  We love those moments of pure beauty when everything seems to come together in a beautiful scene where we can sit for a bit and just revel in the beauty that is our life.  In contrast, the majority of us do not enjoy when life seems to be washed out and gray, when our problems seem to be everywhere we look and they cast a shadow upon our very souls.  This is just basic common sense to me.

However, just as during this day of rain and gray skies there was a short moment of pure beauty and light that came into my life, even if for just a short moment, that allowed me to refocus my attention on the beauty of life instead of the grayness that surrounded me, so it is in our lives.  I never once saw the sun as it came out to help create that rainbow.  So it is with our Savior much of the time.  During those hard times in life as our troubles seem to overwhelm us and infect the very nature of our beings, our Savior become present, even if for a short period of time, and because of his effect, if we are willing to but seek a little, we can find the beauty that comes from the difficulties in life.  We may not actually see Jesus Christ just as I did not see the sun.  However, we can see the effects he has around us.  Whether this be just a kind word from a friend, a hug from a loved one, a nice gesture, or even a simple feeling of being loved, we can see and feel the effects of light and love on our lives and the once gray and dreary skies of life can be splashed with brilliant color and light that can stay with us until the clouds once again part and we are able to behold the light and embrace the warmth of the Son once again.