Today a magnificent solar eclipse covered our land, a somber moon blotting out the sun for a moment in time. As its golden corona flared, all eyes peered in awe. Every soul was starstruck as the radiant light that we all depended upon was turned to shadow and its warmth was removed from the world. Though the air grew cold in its absence, no one was concerned because we knew that the light and the warmth of the sun would soon return.
In the crowd of observers, amongst the gasps and excitement, I can see a solitary young man, staring at the sky. He is near the onset of his life’s journey and I am reminded of my own. This is perhaps his first eclipse, and I can’t help but wonder where his odyssey will lead him. I know that it hasn’t started well, and though he lacks many of the advantages others have, he has the most important one—God. There is a great Light shining upon him and I wonder what effect it will have over the course of his life. As the day turns dark and the moon takes its place before the sun, his eyes look to the heavens. He is intrigued, as he also waits for the light to return.
Does he know that the journey before him is arduous and yet fulfilling in so many ways? The ups and the downs. The lefts and the rights. They all have a rigorous purpose in rounding out the character of the traveler, though it may not seem so at the time. What an amazing journey it will be for him. It will deliver both the bitter and the sweet. The saltiness and the spice. When it all is combined by God and heated in the oven called life, the result will be an elegant soufflé. But he has to have the right Baker, and I believe he has.
A youth’s mind is both experimental and experiential. Although we have warned them, they have a yearning to discover for themselves the magnitude of the drama set before them—and they will. We show them the golden standard so that they have a foundation to return to, and then hope that they will, once their experimentation is complete.
“Train up a child in the way he should go, and when he is old he will not depart from it.” Proverbs 22:6.
They know the truth by letter, but not by deed. They venture to the other side, and the contrasting beauty of the gospel is thus amplified within their own hearts, upon their eventual return.
Their innocent minds are fearless as they set out on their personal quest for what is truth—a noble quest that comes tainted by pains, trials, scars, and nightmares. Some never find their way back, while others, eventually realizing the folly, strike a direct path for home and safety.
I’ve been called a momma’s boy, and I wear that badge with pride. When it comes to moms and children, they hold a very special place in my heart. I get emotional sometimes as I recall the past. Like the time I was in my room on the second floor. I was probably 18 years old and heard a ruckus downstairs. I came down to see my mother on the floor and my father towering above her.
Something changed within me at that moment in time, and it wasn’t good. I knew it, and I didn’t care. This was my fork-in-the-road moment, and with my ire lit, my path forward was not going to be a good one. As I reminisce today, I imagine that at that moment in time, my humanity had departed and the demons cheered in celebration. They owned me now. I was deep in their clutches as my mind went where no mind should go and my adrenaline and anger spiked off the scale.
And with a final look at my mom laying prone on the ground, milliseconds before I exploded into an unspeakable rage, her eyes caught mine and pierced my soul. Her wide-eyed gaze as she stared into my heart was, “Dear God no! Please no!” She knew who I was better than I did, and it was her plea from deep within that shook the ground under my feet and stalled the ferocity of a young man gone mad. Like cold water thrown in my face, her silent plea from across the room to her only son shut down an enraged animal like nothing else could. It was truly an act of God that intervened in the plight of a possessed soul, the result of a desperate prayer from a mother lying prone on the floor. It was a prayer that saved my destiny. I’m so happy she was there, and at the same time wished she wasn’t.
As the moon stepped aside, we all stared in amazement as the full light of the sun returned to our world. The birds began their songs and the eclipse, though brief, revealed details of the sun that would have otherwise remained unseen. Where a shadow was once cast, I saw this young man was now surrounded by godly friends and people that care. This is what will hold him together. This is what will soothe the pain. I think I’ll go say hello and remind him that the light will always return if he keeps looking up.
Regardless of the path, it will be a difficult passage. It always is for those diamonds in the rough.
