Bright Shining Glory

ARISE [from the depression and prostration in which circumstances have kept you--rise to a new life]! Shine (be radiant with the glory of the Lord), for your light has come, and the glory of the Lord has risen upon you!
- Isaiah 60:1 -

God loves you.  God knows you.  When God's attention, gaze, and concern fall upon you, though, what's it like?  With a sharp intake of breath and a slight squirm, I realized how acutely uncomfortable I felt about that.  Thinking of God paying attention to me directly felt like standing on a stage in a glaring-hot spotlight.  Embarrassed, afraid, wondering why there wasn’t someone else who could be standing there to act/ dance/ perform/ whatever.  In my mind's ear, there was a mortified sizzle as I melted onto the dark stage.  Lord only knew who might be watching from the black space beyond the stage-lights, but I sure didn't want to be on display for them.

Yet, I am coming to realize that God wants that light of his glory on his people—it is a thing intended to be GOOD—and as I slowly accept God's brilliance and my place in it, it begins to feel more like a warm, enveloping kind of glow in which to dance (or do whatever) confidently. No longer a place of danger or fear but of God’s love and pleasure.  God's light-- God's glory-- isn't too much for me.  I don't need to duck into the wings, or shield my eyes, or desperately push someone else onto centerstage.  I was made to be radiant.  If the light has come, ain't no shame in it.

"Glory of the LORD."  Collage of paper & mixed media.  Nov. 2009