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Shadows Moving In and Out
“Never fear shadows. They simply mean there's a light shining somewhere nearby.” 
(Ruth E. Renkel). No one can exist without shadows. I can guess what your lifeshadows are, what makes the corners of your mouth turn down, adds a lump to yourstomach and a hole to your heart. I have similar shadows because we are bothhuman. No one escapes sad difficult times; relationship issues, job loss, abuse,death, disease, betrayal and on and on. The shadows can become so dark we find itvery hard to believe there is
“light somewhere nearby.” 
 Where can we find the light Ms. Renkel faithfully suggests? Nobel Prize winner forliterary excellence, Francois Muriac, sheds a little ‘light’ with this quote:
“No love,no friendship can cross the path of our destiny without leaving some mark on it forever.” 
Let’s take the quote a little further to proclaim that difficult outcomesleave marks too but if we decide to look for the positive in our difficult situation, itvery well can lead us to the light we need to move from the shadow. We then findwe have become stronger and more equipped to heal ourselves. When we experiencehealing we find within ourselves a deeper compassion toward others.
“I have found the paradox that if I love until it hurts, then there is no hurt, but only more love.” 
Mother Teresa’s quote sounds confusing but when we examine itmore closely we find that she is describing God’s perfect love. As we grow inrelationship with him, as did Mother Teresa, God’s indwelling spirit enables us tofind supernatural forgiveness and joy. The journey out of the shadow can be longand torturous filled with doubt and anger. But if we persist, we find ourselvesforgiving the offender and often moving toward a deeper love as Mother Teresasuggests.It seems to me when faced with difficulties we have two options: 1-to think ofourselves as a victim or 2-to use the circumstance for growth. William A. Ward,author of
Fountains of Faith 
states,
“Adversity causes some men to break; others to break records.” 
I had the distinct opportunity to come alongside people who’sworld seemed to have ended; a teenage son died by suicide, three family membersdied in a fatal plane crash, a toddler run over accidently by his own father, fourpregnancies in a row ending in stillbirth, a baby murdered by a boyfriend, a child hitby a train are certainly circumstances that could cause men and women to break.In my capacity as Bereavement Coordinator, we developed a team of caregiversthat came along side these families and followed them up for years afterward. Theones who refused to become bitter found that the upward climb actually made thembetter people, more compassionate, willing to help others in need. Some even
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