Darkness

The family room was dark even though the sun was up. We hang dark curtains over the normal curtains when we have a small puppy.  Hopefully it fools them into sleeping a little longer and not waking at the crack of dawn.
 I can hardly reach to take them down and as Howard is away for two days, I was tempted to leave them up. But I just could not live in a darkened room. So I stood on tip toes to take them down and let the sun shine in.




I thought about my friend who is blind. He tells me he often washes the dishes at 1am. He does not put the light on. It would be a waste of time and anyway it would wake the family.




I also thought about my friends who walk in spiritual darkness. How do they cope with every day living? I have loved God and believed in heaven and hell since I was a child and it's hard for me to imagine what life is like without that faith in God.




The biggest challenge in life is forgiveness. To love people, especially nice people who agree with us is relatively easy. We can even manage to love unlovely people. But what is our reaction to people who hurt us?  It does not seem natural to forgive people who disappoint us, or are unkind to us. The natural response is to retaliate.
It's natural, and normal and a human way to respond but that is why we need God.  Unforgiveness, hatred and revenge are all destructive ways. The problem is it does not only hurt even destroy the other person but it also hurts the person who refuses to forgive. We need the supernatural  ability that only God can give us to truly forgive and feel the freedom that forgiveness brings.
I am told that people with mental illnesses can often find relief and healing through forgiveness. Hatred and bitterness is like a cancer to our spirits. Sometimes the person needing our forgiveness is ourselves. It is possible to hate ourselves. If we don't love ourselves in a healthy way, we will find it difficult to love others.
It all starts with forgiveness. Receiving forgiveness from God for all the wrong things we have done  and also forgiveness for the good and kind things that we were meant to do that we did not do.
We also need to forgive people who have wronged us.
Forgiveness brings freedom and healing not only for us but for those around us.