Dear Reader:

I love Emily Dickinson’s works but I think I would change one word in this quote….from door to window. “Not knowing when the dawn will come, I open every window.”

Sunday morning I was up early and had just gone to open the shutters when the sun’s rays shot through one half-opened shutter I had been adjusting… and this image caught my attention and appreciation. So beautiful! Mother Nature was creating her own art works on the walls in my house using the sun as her paint brush.

In our Sunday School class we are finishing up with one book we have been studying…in order to start a new project. I  missed some Sundays so I thought I would read the Epilogue to see how the author brought conclusion to her story. (It ended up being my favorite part of the book.)

The title of the epilogue was “Dark” and it was captioned with the Emily Dickinson quote in today’s blog title.

The book had been about an early, youthful rejection of the church (with its fair share of hypocrisies) by the author, It is the story of one person’a journey to re-invent what the church really means on a personal level.She concludes that “Church is a moment  in time when the kingdom of God draws near; when a shared meal, story, song, apology, and even a failure is made holy simply by the presence of Jesus among and within us.” 

She finishes by reminding us: “The church was alive and well long before we came up with phrases like “making it relevant.” It will go on long after the grass grows through our cathedral floors.”

The church, as we have known since we played the finger rhyme “Here’s the Church” as children, is the people. We are the church.

Here’s the church – finger rhyme

Here’s the church, and here’s the steeple
Open the door and see all the people.
Here’s the parson going upstairs,
And here he is saying his prayers.

I told my Sunday School class that I equate becoming a Christian and signing up for the journey… more like playing “Mother May I.” Some days I feel so close to God and then by the next day I have slipped back into a dark abyss (my own personal ‘rabbit hole’) still searching for the light.

Three feet forward,..five steps back and so on and so on. My hope is that one day “Mother” (God) will say” Becky, it is time. Take one giant leap of faith forward  and don’t look back….the Kingdom of God awaits.” (I will remember to ask permission and, hopefully, be welcomed with open arms.)

Maybe that is why I am so drawn to all kinds of light… lanterns, candles, solar lights, decorative strings of light, etc…perhaps they are God Winks letting me know He is still watching over me, guiding me, and waiting for the time when I will enter His Light.

So until tomorrow….Let us be assured that just as love conquers hate….light is and will always be victorious over darkness. Go open the doors and windows to let the sunrise in.

“Today is my favorite day”  Winnie the Pooh

*Happy Leap Year….Personally I am ready to leap into Spring!