That Golden Glow

The sun lights up yellowing cornstalks, an autumnal scene that seems destined for a stained glass. Even on a cool morning, warmth radiates all around when that golden glow slants in through the windowpane. Light lands across the bed, where the summer quilt lays in gentle heaps like rolling mountains on the edge of a vale. The baseboard's rich woodgrain mimics the clouds' layering in the sky outside and even shadows reveal the day's mood as birds twitter toward post-dawn and the wind shivers leaves on limbs. The silhouette of muntin bars proves the only constant as I linger in the coziness. And, for a moment I feel like the old (wo)man in the mountain, sleeping under the comfy quilt of blue ridges.

Just before the baby's waking coos, the house is silent. There is a sense of calm, although once the day begins serenity quickly vacates the property. Often our perspectives are like that, too, when we peer through the glazing at the lives of others. Everything seems perfect, or at least much easier than the lives we know. Any specks that would otherwise be noticeable are really just smudges on the pane that still don't deter the happy home interpretation that aligns with what we want to see. But just as we see, others do too. Our lives, from the strained sight of others, may seem so rich in the full sense of the word that it would shock us.

It is human nature to feel one's own plight more ardently than the despair of others. And when others do have perceivable difficulties, we are quick to help - for a little while, until we almost ache to have such care aimed at ourselves. If we're honest, we all feel that way.

So, today, amid the chaos you perceive, may God's golden glow remind you that you have special worth. You are a treasure, too, even with the frays that sometimes run you ragged.