Falling Radiance

"You know, when you're young,God sweeps you up. He holds you there.The real snag is to stay there and to know how to fall. All those days when you can't hold on any longer. When you tumble. The test is being able to climb up again. That's what I'm looking for." Colum McCann, Let the Great World Spin

One of the best parts about trees is watching the love affair they have with light. All day long they capture the sun in their leaves and branches and splash it down to the ground, the roads, the grass and us. Standing among them, looking up into their greenness drenched in the sun's white lightning is a blessing. Something in us instinctively seeks the light and the trees towering above us have an intimacy with it we yearn for; their uppermost arms soaking up the heat and brilliance, uncovering for us the beauty in ordinary objects caught by the falling radiance.

We will all have need in our lives to experience the power of humble moments. When our lives get tangled and closed up we long for deliverance and we would prefer it be miraculous. But that is not the usual course of life, or is it? What we struggle with is our work while we are here. In each of the problems we face is the food of our growth. But to keep us encouraged, to keep our hearts afloat, our lives will also have moments that nourish and encourage us. We may have yearned for rescue from our circumstances by some wondrous unforeseen event. In hindsight we see that what saved us was the kind and understanding smile from a close friend, a bit of peacefulness watching the evening sky, the silliness of our children or the frisky whip, whip, whip of the dog's tail when we arrived home. These kinds of moments don't pay the bills, save relationships or even get the brakes replaced on the car. What they do is perform a miracle in our hearts by reminding us what is beautiful, whole and delicious and worth the struggle to adapt and change and keep on trying. Rarely in the moment do they appear larger than life, but looking back we can see them for what they truly were: moments when we were caught in the falling radiance.