In the Sunshine and in the Shade

I was driving home on a day in late May. It seemed as if Spring had skipped this year and we had gone straight into Summer. The heat was bad and the humidity worse. The mountains had all turned green but at the moment they were shaded by huge, gray, ominous looking clouds.

It looked like a storm could hit at any minute. As I rounded a curve, however, something wonderful happened: a crack appeared in the clouds and sun shone through. The dark green leaves of the mountains were now shining in a glorious, golden light. The road too seemed to shimmer in the sunshine. And I felt my own mood brighten as well. I turned on the car radio and John Denver was singing, "Sunshine on my shoulders makes me happy."

I laughed at that minor miracle and thanked God for it. My own smile sparkled as I started to sing along.

Then just as quickly as it opened the crack in the clouds closed and the world went gray again.

I didn't go with it, though. That brief moment in the sun had connected me again with the greater light of God's love. I felt at one with Earth, Heaven, and everyone everywhere. I felt my own love and joy shining through my soul. I kept singing as the clouds grew dark and sang even louder as the rain began to fall. It felt like all the angels in Heaven were joining in.

In this life we are all called upon to love. We are all called upon to shine. We are all called upon to share God's light in this world. It is easy to do so on sunny days when life's pains and problems seem so far away. It is harder to do so on days when the shade of this world seems to darken everything. Yet, God wants us to do so in the sunshine and in the shade.

Let your soul shine bright then. Let your love flow freely. Let your light help others to find their own way out of the shade. Let each day of your life add to the light of this world until you reach the never ending light of the next.

Joseph J. Mazzella

In the Sunshine and in the Shade

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