Living in the shadowlands…

I finished writing my novel. The next step is to get a copy for myself and family and friends, I guess. I’m not sure if I will publish it, however.

And yet, a life goal almost accomplished (once I get a hard copy version), and there is a sense of life moving on far too quickly. Depending on your age and life experiences I suppose you will know something of adapting to the reality of a life that is not quite a fairy-tale.

Time seemed to move at a slower pace when we were younger. Perhaps. I’m still in my thirties but even so things have hurtled on and the ‘big’ milestones I thought I would have met haven’t quite come to pass…yet. And even if they do, we can’t hold on to them anyway. In a world where people are passing away at a younger age, young parents leaving their children behind, and the inevitability of loss, it is hard to live in the shadowlands. It is hard to know that we are living in a world that is rapidly changing, and that seems to have speeded up with its changes over just the past few years. It is hard to make other people take notice of certain things in their lives. And yet, with all the worries, perhaps I’m not taking time enough to allow myself to slow down and be thankful.

I have a hope, a very real hope in the Living God, Jesus Christ, that there is so much more than this. It may sound strange but it’s my experience and I have great Peace in Him, despite the battles of life and the spiritual battles that we are in.

Yet, even so, it takes courage to be human. To contend with our own minds, and the world we live in, and to press on. Sometimes feeling helpless and weak can lead us to the Grace we so desperately need, and finding comfort in the God Who will love us if we just would turn to Him. I found that afresh today. The God Who will reach out to me in my weakness and gather me in and comfort me with His very real and tangible Peace and Presence.

Some may look upon Christ as a crutch for the weak, yet He Is very real and the only real hope we can have in this life or the one to come. While this life is but a breath, a vapour, what is to come is eternal, and for those in Christ, an existence and a reality to be welcomed and hoped for.

Still, we have to live in the tension in the meantime of a life in the shadowlands. And that isn’t always easy. But maybe taking the time to slow down, to listen and hear what He’s saying to us, to appreciate and be thankful in the moment we are in can help us do more than worry about the uncertainties of life. There are certain bridges that we will just have to cross when we come to them. I hope you will find a place to rest today. x

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