It's the day after Thanksgiving, and I feel like the wisps of cloud in this photo, gleaming in the sunset afterglow. I arose this morning in the afterglow of a golden Thanksgiving Day celebration with beloved family. The American Heritage Dictionary of the English Language defines afterglow as "The light emitted after removal of a source of energy, especially." How perfectly apt for how I feel!
Yesterday may have been a less-than-optimal day for me physically, but once settled into my favorite comfy chair at my son's home, here came my grandchildren pulling out card games to play on the ottoman in front of me. Who can say "No" to a grandchild's request? The first game was totally new to me, and my cognitively-challenged brain couldn't do much with the instructions, so I told them, "Let's just play and you can show me as we go." Well, this game involved not only following a pattern, it also required quick thinking AND quick handplay, so you can imagine the hilarity of a slow-moving and -thinking granny following two sets of young minds and hands who were quite familiar with the game and closer to the playing surface to boot! We all laughed so hard at my attempts to knock, point, or scratch in time that I think they finally felt sorry for me and slowed down so I could at least win one round!
Then it was on to Uno. I thought, I've been playing this most of my life-- no problem! HA! Who knew that Uno had switched from words to those silly symbols for "Reverse" and "Skip" AND added some new ones, too? I was lost again! And more hysterical laughter ensued. Finally there came a word and reasoning game, and yes, I did better, but I did have some help the first round from my fellow grandma humming "Rudolph the Red-Nosed Reindeer" when she could see that my animal was "reindeer" and not just "deer." (Thank you, Carol!) Tears were streaming down my face and my sides were hurting after all this fun, but I would pay a million dollars or more for the way my spirits soared. I was still smiling when I went to bed. THAT was "afterglow," and I hope someday I can share with my grandchildren what they give me every time we're together. Their energy indeed continues to light up my face with every memory.
I'm reminded of Moses' encounter with God on Mount Sinai, when he received the Ten Commandments, and his face shone from being in the presence of God. In Luke's account of the Transfiguration (Luke 9:29), when Peter, James, and John went to a mountaintop with Jesus and He suddenly glowed before them with His divinity, notice that He had been praying, communing with His Father God, when this radiance came over Him. I have to wonder if my own encounters with God, my heavenly Father, cause me to glow with His presence?
In my brain rewiring program, we are each required at the beginning to write and repeat at least once a day our own "Declaration"-- basically a statement of how we want to see ourselves as we are healed. Inspired by the instructor, who is truly radiant with her love of our Lord, I included in my Declaration that word, "RADIANT," in all caps. I know that I had come to a point where I had lost my radiance for my King, allowing it to be swallowed up by the Enemy in a pit of depression. But somehow, by His mercy and grace, and by immersing myself in His Word more deeply each day, I feel that glow returning. Now THAT'S something to be Thankful for!
As Advent approaches, this season of light, and our houses and church houses begin to glisten with extra-special lights, won't you join me in seeking to shine ever more brightly in the afterglow of our Savior's radiance? Unlike the earth's sunset afterglow, though, the Source has never really left us, you know!
"Jesus spoke to them again: 'I am the light of the world. Anyone who follows me will never walk in the darkness but will have the light of life.'" (John 8:12 CSB)
