As I sit typing this post in advance, the sky is heavily blanketed by a golden smog of dust from the Sahara, driven by stormy winds. It shouldn’t be dark quite yet, because dusk and sunset are still a way ahead, but we’re needing to put lights on in order to see clearly. The eventual sunset (pictured above) was pretty stunning though. 🙂
So attuned do we become to the rhythmic, diurnal changes that exist, especially as one season segues into another, that our bodies and minds expect light and dark to keep to their respective places in the world around us.
God has ordained it as such that light will always overcome the darkness. It has to yield and give way. Likewise, sorrow surrenders to joy, and healing and recovery follow injury and pain. There is a duality, where seeming opposites appear to coexist, as I describe in the poem below…
coexistence
how can there be joy
at the heart of sorrow
and sadness coexist
where there is bliss?
yet somehow
they are mixed
and inextricably
linked as one
expression of life
and love and faith
and deep mystery
part of all our tomorrows
in all the annals
of human history
©joylenton
Our steadiness, in the midst of this coexistence mystery, is to place our hope and faith in Christ the solid Rock. Jesus is the ballast we need in a world where shifting sands literally invade our days, and where we can witness worldwide grief and pain on a daily basis.
Life’s duality and uncertainty are intended to encourage us to seek after God, to look for His Light, pursue the Peace only He can provide and anticipate the Joy beyond our dark and painful circumstances.
life’s duality
life is a strange thing
sorrow cuts us sharp as knives
joy makes our soul sing
such duality
exists to make us reach out
and accept God’s grace
while the heat builds up
emotions rage inside us
requiring God’s touch
a holy healing
begins to flood our hard hearts
bathed in peace and love
©joylenton
Poetry Joy 
Joy,
These words bring tears to my eyes tonight. They fit so perfectly with what I have been feeling on this day! I know that the Lord so often moves us on parallel paths, but I am so surprised as I just wrote this evening, that my heart is hungry to see the new beauty that is here in this hard and bleak season. How sweet of the Lord to have your words waiting here. “Life’s duality and uncertainty are intended to encourage us to seek after God, to look for His Light” Amen. Love and Hugs and Blessings to you!
Bettie, it’s lovely to hear this post was timely for you. God certainly knows who He intends to touch with our words! That hunger for beauty never really leaves us, does it? Though the sheer weariness of life can sap even the desire to seek it. We become inward looking when things get challenging. I am moved by the hunger in your soul, dear friend. Your words here have reminded me to pause, come up for air, and focus my eyes and thoughts more on the good things God is doing in our midst than on the negative feelings engendered by exhaustion and chronic illness. Thank you! Love and hugs to you! xox 😊💜