A Holy Moment
Written by Paul Landis Delaune
One evening recently,
as I went from my bedroom into my livingroom, I paused as I looked
out my backdoor. The sun was setting
and it was beginning to get dark. It was if a
giant shadow existed overeverything—its dark
hue was soft on my eyes.
Above the brightness of the sun was slowly
fading in sharp contrast to the twilight that clung
to everything below. Within me, I felt
stillness, peace, a holy moment.
I am one who is drawn
to the day. In the morning when the sun is shining bright, energy
flows through my veins and I am eager to be
about the things I do during the day.
Often it’s not long until a little voice whispers
my name, calling me outside.
I try to ignore it as I continue on with whatever
I’m doing, but that voice keeps
whispering to me: “Paul, come outside and
play.” “Paul, come outside so we can
play.” So, I go outside and we play.
Before I realize it,
sunbeams are dancing all around me, like tiny fairies flitting about.
As I wander around, my shadow and sunshine
play tag and hide ‘n’ seek.
The sun is my pal. Everywhere I go,
my pal goes. And if I go into a store,
my pal always waits for me patiently. When
I return outside, a warm hug always
greets me. I love blue, sunny skies.
They make me smile. They inspire me.
I love the beauty and warmth.
There was a time I
dreaded evenings and hated nightfall to come. That was when
\I was plagued by insomnia and lying in bed
at night was a chore. Many a night I lay
awake thinking I would lose my mind if sleep
continued to elude me, but I didn’t
lose my mind. I got over the anxieties
that made insomnia a curse in my life and
now I sleep peacefully at night.
Twilight is a holy
time. It is a time of reverie, a time to pause, to enjoy the silence
and
the softness on one’s eyes. Nowadays
when I experience the twilight of the
\day, I welcome it. I honor it.
Just asthe day beckons to me, the night
does as well. I am not a person of the
night. No, for me, night is time for
sleep and relishing the feel of my bed.
The night is a time
full of mysteries. I leave these mysteries
for others as I sleep and dream.
In the morn, another twilight comes, another
holy moment.
Holy moments.
In a world that has forgotten its holiness, I cherish these.
They remind me of the holiness in me.
We live in a world that largely
believes holiness comes from outside of ourselves,
yet we fail to realize being
created in the image of God means everything
we could possibly
need—love, unity, power, glory, abundance,
salvation—lies
within us. We need do nothing but realize
it and it comes into our awareness.
Holy moments. For you and for me.