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#15-2: Shimmer and Shadow -- and Handling Life's Challenges

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#1 · February 19, 2012, 8:05 am

Posted by: virginiaknowles <virginiaknowles@...>


~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

The Hope Chest with Virginia Knowles

#15-2: Shimmer and Shadow

February 2012

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~


Dear friends,

Welcome to the February edition of the Hope
Chest e-magazine. I was just thinking of kicking myself for not sending out
Valentine's Day links a few weeks ago, but life is too short for that kind of
petty regrets.  I'm sure you all survived without them well enough!
 I hope you all had a nice Valentine's Day.  I did!

 

The big family news here is that my daughter
Mary gave birth to her second son Isaac a week ago today, and he's a real cutie like his big brother
Jacob! You can see pictures and read more about it here: Baby Isaac is Here! and here: Love, Love, Baby Love -- And Food Love, Too!  A few weeks before his birth, Mary's lifelong
friend Katie, whom she met in a home school group when they were nine, threw a
"Blessingway" baby shower for Mary. 
It was by far the most unusual and inspiring baby shower I have ever attended and of course I took lots of pictures!  My husband's new nickname for me is "the
Mamarazzi" (since I'm not a papa, I'm guess I'm not papparazzi!). Anyway, the fruit of
my abundant photo snapping from that event is here: Weekend Gratitude: Blessingway for Mary.

 

Other recent posts on my blogs include: 

For this Hope Chest issue, I would
like to share a new poem with you.  Then
I would like to invite you all to share your thoughts about handling challenges in a number of areas. Stay tuned!

 

If this issue is a blessing to you, would you please consider forwarding it to your friends?  Thanks!  Subscription information is at the bottom.


Now onto the poem!

"Shimmer and Shadow at the Blessingway"


Shimmer and
Shadow

 

I.

 

Epiphany dawns to
blaze of day

Fiery sun and
cooling shade

Then sunset glow

Seeping dusk

Star sparkle,
honey gold of moon

Obscuring haze of
deepening dark

Dark deep

Wait

Rest

Heal

Epiphany dawns

Hope rises on the
horizon

 

II.

 

My life is
shimmer and shadow

Shadow and
shimmer

A chiaroscuro
portrait, clear and dark

The Artist draws
and draws

Draws me into
scenes of day and night

Draws me to
himself in glimmerings and glimpses

There is still
life

I am still here

I am here and so
is He

In shimmer and
shadow

 

~*~*~

 

"Even the
darkness will not be dark to you; the night will shine like the day, for
darkness is as light to you." Psalm 139:12

 

"Arise,
shine, for your light has come, and the glory of the Lord rises upon you. See,
darkness covers the earth and thick darkness is over the peoples, but the Lord
rises upon you and his glory appears over you." Isaiah 60:2

 

"I rise
before dawn and cry for help; I have put my hope in your word.   My
eyes stay open through the watches of the night, that I may meditate on your
promises." Psalm 119:148

 

"He who made
the Pleiades and Orion, who turns blackness into dawn and darkens day into
night… the Lord is his name." Amos 5:8

"Praise him,
sun and moon, praise him, all you shining stars." Psalm 148:3

 

"My heart is
steadfast, O God' I will sing and make music with all my soul.  Awake,
harp and lyre! I will awaken the dawn." Psalm 108:1-2

 

"On my bed I
remember you; I think of you through the watches of the night.  Because
you are my help,  I sing in the shadow of your wings." Psalm 63:7

 

"Even though
I walk through the valley of the shadow of death, I will fear no evil, for you
are with me; your rod and your staff, they comfort me." Psalm 23:4

 

"… because
of the tender mercy of our God, by which the rising sun will come to us from
heaven to shine on those living in darkness and in the shadow of death, to
guide our feet into the path of peace." Luke 1:78-79

 

"But for you
who revere my name, the sun of righteousness will rise with healing in its
wings." Malachi 4:2a

 

~*~*~

 

I wrote most of
"Shimmer and Shadow" in my head while lying in bed in the wee hours
of this morning, then tiptoeing out into the still chill dark, awaiting the
sunrise in my SHINE nightshirt.  


It is 6:36 AM now, and dawn has not yet come, but I know it will.  I am
still waiting.

Over the past
several months, I have been reading from Luci Shaw's Breath for the Bones - Art, Imagination and Spirit:
Reflections on Creativity and Faith. (See also
here: Is My Head in the Clouds? and Ivory and Gray and Books I'm Reading in 2012.) Luci
is a poet and her book helps me write.  (I even borrowed the words chiaroscuro and epiphany from
her.) Of course I was amused yesterday to open to the next chapter:
"Understanding the Shadow Side of Creativity."  She writes what
I know by experience: that God sometimes seems hidden, life dark.  She
knows this too, and continued to write from the shadows after the death of her
husband Harold, a Christian book publisher. Christian contemplatives of
centuries past have written of "the dark night of the soul" and
"the Cloud of Unknowing" and "the winter of the
heart."  This is so. 

 

 "And
we are supposed to trust our lives to this enigma? … We yearn for union with
God, for the sense of safety and belonging.  What we often experience
instead is frustration and aloneness."  p. 151 

 

"Often,
however, art is veiled -- couched in clues and symbols, a shadow that touches
reality, that gives us a glimpse of the indescribable, that invites us farther
up and farther in.  It will not always show all of itself or the whole
truth at one viewing, nor will it preach a four-point sermon.  But if we
are willing to gift it our full attention, art will being to open our inner
eyes." p. 154 

 

"But truth
isn't always pleasant.  Christians who practice art must not always feel
bound to produce sweetness and light.  We have to recognize the darkness
and shadow as well as the light, and realize that God is not dark and evil, but
he embodies mystery.  Sometimes God withdraws and leaves us in the dark --
and we can learn to view it as an instructive and salutary phase of life. 
It's not pleasant, but we discover things in the dark that we couldn't find in
the light." p. 161

 

In the back of Breath
for the Bones is a suggested reading list.  I find on it The
Weather of the Heart, a poetry book by Madeleine L'Engle, the beloved
author of the novel A Wrinkle in Time.  By happy happenstance it
already is on my shelf, a serendipitous find that I wasn't seeking. 
(While Christmas shopping for my children, I bought it for my sister, a
lifelong L'engle fan, and I haven't yet sent it for her birthday this
month.  It has been waiting.)  I look on the dedication page: "To
Harold and Luci."  Published by Shaw.  The first poem, page one:

"Within This Strange and Quickened Dust" 

by Madeleine L'Engle

O God, within this strange and quickened dust

The beating heart controls the coursing blood

In discipline that holds in check the flood

But cannot stem corrosion and dark rust.

In flesh's solitude I count it blest

That only you, my Lord, can see my heart

With passion's darkness tearing it apart

With storms of self, and tempests of unrest.
But your love breaks through blackness, bursts with light;

We separate ourselves, but you rebind
In Dayspring all our fragments: body, mind,

And spirit join, unite against the night.

Healed by your love, corruption and decay
Are turned, and whole, we greet the light of day.


It is 6:56 now,
dawn here, sun rising, mourning doves cooing.  "We greet the light of
day."

 

~*~*~

  

Virginia's note: This article continued with a lot more of my photography, mostly from nature, which you can see by
visiting the original blog post here: Shimmer and Shadow. 
I wrote the poem to go along with a picture I had taken for
the P52 weekly photo project.  All of my
other P52 posts are listed here in reverse order:


·        Week 7: Love, Love, Baby Love -- And Food Love, Too! (this includes a recipe for Grandma's heart salad and hummus)

·        Week 6: The Bread & Wine of Jesus and Melchizedek

·        Week 5: Shimmer and Shadow

·        Week 4: Self Portrait and Lemon Raspberry Cheescake

·        Week 3: I Dreamed a Dream

·        Week 2: Made with Love

·        Week 1: Resolution

    

 

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

I Need Your Thoughts on Handling Life Challenges!

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

 

I get a lot of letters from my Hope Chest e-magazine readers about challenges they are facing in life.  I can certainly relate to them.  When I started off parenting nearly 25 years ago, I was full of youthful idealism. Perhaps I thought  having a lot of children and home schooling them would somehow turn us into this amazing godly family immune from so many of the trials that face modern society.  And we have, indeed, been blessed by these choices in many ways.  It's just that over the years, I have either experienced unexpected
trials in my own life, or observed them in friends, or heard about them from
others.  I personally know devout Christian
home school moms whose marriages have been torn apart by infidelity or abuse, or
who have become disillusioned and walked away from their faith or family, or whose
teens have done foolish or horrible things, or whose families members have been
tormented by mental illness, or who have experienced significant conflict in
church situations, or who are on the brink of financial ruin, or whose lives
have been rocked by multiple traumatic events like cancer or car accidents or
the death of a child.  One of my friends
even committed suicide four years ago and I still grieve that loss.  Our own family has certainly hit a lot of pot
holes along the way, and sometimes I think, "This just isn't what I signed
up for!"  And then I think, "I
know I am not alone.  Others are
struggling too."

 

Friends, it's not
enough to shake my head at them, offer some shallow platitudes, and move on.  Like I said, I am one of them.  I have known the pain, the confusion, the
despair. I know that sometimes the only way I can keep on going is by
encouragement from others who have gone through the same things. That has been
a gracious provision of God to me and my family.  I would like to extend that provision to you
and through you.

 

So here is my
plan.  I am asking you all to share your
thoughts, in the form of short articles or even just a paragraph or two, about
a variety of topics.  Please tell us what
you have faced, how you have coped with it, and what the result has been. This
does not have to be a success story; it could be more of a prayer request or a
cautionary tale.  If you have recommended
resources, such as book titles or web links, please include those, too.  You do not have to give your name if you are
writing about something sensitive.  I
will also edit as necessary for discretion.  Depending on how many responses I receive, this may be enough for several issues of the Hope Chest.  Here are some ideas for you:

  • depression, anxiety,
    OCD, bipolar and other mental health issues in children, teens, or adults
  • marriage problems
  • solo parenting
    (including families who are separated because of military service)
  • overuse of
    technology, such as Internet, TV, video games
  • medical crises in
    the family, including your children, yourself, or caring for extended family
    members
  • menopause or
    other hormonal issues
  • unmotivated
    and/or rebellious children
  • academic problems
  • learning
    disabilities such as ADD, autism, dyslexia, speech/language issues, etc.
  • disillusionment
    with beliefs that you used to hold closely
  • church issues
  • opposition from
    friends or family
  • financial
    problems
  • burnout and discouragement
    as a mother
  • anything else
    that you can think of, perhaps starting with the questions: "What is the
    hardest trial I have faced as a parent?" and "What wisdom have I
    gleaned along the way that might encourage or equip someone else?"

So what do you
think?  Write about it!

 

You can either send me an e-mail or, if you would rather share anonymously, leave a comment on this post here. Please let me know if you want your name (first or full name) included.


Thank you from
the bottom of my heart!


Virginia Knowles

http://www.virginiaknowles.blogspot.com

http://www.comewearymoms.blogspot.com

http://www.startwellhomeschool.blogspot.com

http://www.continuewellhomeschool.blogspot.com

http://www.finishwellhomeschool.blogspot.com

http://www.watchtheshepherd.blogspot.com


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