Vitamin Share

 

                I pull into the parking lot, grab my flashlight, and step into the pre-dawn chill. I’m headed to a ladies’ prayer group at a friend’s house, and my day has barely begun. Already, however, the stiffness in my soul mirrors the tension in my muscles. I’ve scheduled this time, both the walk and the prayer, to loosen the fibers of my soul, but have my doubts it will help. The walk to my friend’s house is dim, my flashlight’s weak beam barely alerting cars of my presence. The road slaps against my sturdy shoes with a jarring, unkind, insistence. I struggle to breathe, to focus, to rest, a struggle I suspect will last the whole day.

                Once I arrive at my friend’s, I settle into her low-lit living room for a spell of soft conversation. We transition to prayer soon enough, and my friend, who cares for her daughter and her medically fragile husband, excuses herself to tend to his needs. We keep on in prayer, a familiar rhythm of raising our concerns, listening in silence, speaking life, and repeating. We name our discouragement, our need, and our joy. Spontaneously, someone sings a song. The melody rises, too, the scriptural words floating around us like a breeze, like the Spirit.

                I’m on a schedule this morning, so precisely on time, I take my leave. My friend’s dogs bark their good-bye, and her daughter calls to them from her bedroom. The ladies, I’m sure, will keep praying. I bless them with a look, and step outside into a shockingly bright autumn morning. While we’ve been praying, the sun has risen. I glance at my now-useless flashlight and break into a jog. My feet feel lighter somehow, my spirit surprisingly free. With minimal effort, I move toward my waiting car. Sunlight spills over the Blue Mountains, pinking the leaves, roads, and sky with the promise of brightness to come. I make my way through this transformation. It’s happened outside, for sure, as the sunrise has illuminated this new day. But it’s also taken place deep inside – both in the home of my hospitable friend and in the recesses of my newly lifted heart. I realize I’m entering this day filled with hope, wealth, and peace, my soul transformed by the sunrise of a few minutes spent in the presence of God with my friends.

I enter the day feeling Love.