Sunshine and Shadows -- A metaphor of life

The past two mornings, as I was walking the trail near our house, I was looking at the patches of sunshine and shadows and thinking how like life that pattern was.  Pretty deep for so early in the morning, isn’t it?  But as I started out on the trail, I had at least a quarter of a mile of pure sunshine and green grass.  Isn’t that what life is like when you are a little child?  Endless days of play and no responsibilities except maybe to wash your hands before you eat.  Oh, there were the odd times that I had to clean my room but that was before I became obsessed with having everything perfectly clean and in its place.  That’s the pure bliss of childhood and the unobstructed sunshine!
 

Then as I got further onto the trail, the trees were lining the walkway and that’s when I encountered the patches of shade along with the sun.  Sometimes more sun and sometimes more shade. Very much like life.  As I got older and took on more and more responsibly, I found that there were times when life seemed overwhelming and I was just making my way through the shade.  Then I came to an area of the trail that has thick trees and underbrush and it was very shaded.  Again, this reminded me of times in my life when I thought that I was fighting the whole world alone. But even in this very shaded area, there were birds and squirrels scampering around the bushes and that was how my life has been too.  Even in the darkest moments, there were always times of laughter and joy. 

I returned to the last stretch of sunshine at the end of my walk and again, it’s a perfect metaphor for life.  I’ve experienced most of the difficulties (or so I hope) and now I’m again living in the sunshine. It brought to mind the quote from Ralph Waldo Emerson, “Most of the shadows of this life are caused by our standing in our own sunshine”. I’m not sure that I agree entirely with that because there were a lot of shadows that life threw at me and I’d rather not have experienced but when we are in the deepest shade, we can at least appreciate the birds and squirrels that are freely romping about and enjoying whatever life throws at them.  Let’s be like those birds and squirrels – let’s freely romp even if only for a little while – especially if it’s a shaded time of our life!

I would encourage you to enjoy the outdoors and nature now.  It’s a beautiful time with so many things that nature can offer us.

The best remedy for those who are afraid, lonely or unhappy is to go outside, somewhere where they can be quiet, alone with the heavens, nature and God. Because only then does one feel that all is as it should be and that God wishes to see people happy, amidst the simple beauty of nature.

- Anne Frank