The Shadow

Reason tells me she’s been with me my whole life, but sun on the walking path has put her in view a lot lately. I started snapping photos of her and occasionally, videos. The videos I quickly erase because I think she walks so strangely and she’s a little girthy strolling out in front of me.

Some days her legs look very long and other days, much too short for her body. She has an odd gate about her too, swinging her hips. “My goodness, girl! Why you swing those hips!? You are too much!” I scold her. Pull that left foot in, pull back those shoulders.

I know I’m a little hard on her. I always have been, but it has always been just between me and her, so I thought no harm done. I have been listening to a man recently whose talks began to insightfully describe her! It’s about time someone reigned her in. I quieted everything around me so I could get all the dirt on her, and see if he could tell me something to pass along to her. She’s always been a bit needy of help you know, though no one would realize it.

He said her type most usually goes through their life un-helped, unconfronted, and unchallenged because they appear so darned noble. People like her are always giving others their way, always making every conversation about the other person, elevating others’ needs over and above their own. So selfless are these types, practically saints!!! Yet, this is only the distorted picture. This is not the whole.

“Cowards”, he said, in a surprisingly nice way. These are people who are cowardly and more like shadows, like ghosts, or something akin to being invisible in their relationships. They refuse to be known, to be heard, to let their needs, opinions, feelings, convictions and such be seen lest they cause a conflict, lest they be rejected, lest they be refused or embarrassed for them.

“Look, man, she may not be perfect, she’s a bit distorted and shy, but did you really have to go and call her a coward? Is this really where it is at?” 😉 🙂

If it wasn’t for the brilliant light shining down along the path, I wouldn’t have seen her at all. If it wasn’t for His brilliant light, she would still be hiding, still be posing as someone saintly, while hiding all the rest of her. But secretly I’ve known this about her for some time. And though, as the man said, people like her are rarely ever helped, they rarely change, I raise my brow and smile half of a smile because there is One who can reveal the heart to those who are willing, even those hiding in their fears. He can save us from ourselves. And He has gone and made more than an invisible woman of her. His reach extends even to this coward and is ever bringing her into His light.

I’ve noticed that when the light dims, she vanishes away, so she must stay in the “LIGHT!” We all must stay in the light! Today, she would gladly tell you, “Don’t be invisible! And don’t hide who you are in fear. But stay in the light and be all of who He has made you to be! Be assured that someone loves you just as you are.”

5And this is the message we have heard from Him and announce to you: God is light, and in Him there is no darkness at all. 6If we say we have fellowship with Him yet walk in the darkness, we lie and do not practice the truth. 7But if we walk in the light as He is in the light, we have fellowship with one another, and the blood of Jesus His Son cleanses us from all sin. 1 John 1

Danny Silk : The Communication Dance – YouTube

(speaks partly to marriages, but is relevant to all of our relationships; friendships, family, children)