Class let out at around a quarter to 5 today. 4 to 5PM is my favorite hour of the day during Longview winters, so I was fortunate enough to catch the tail end. I was glad because it's the best part of the hour anyway. While anyone who knows me knows that I reserve only the sincerest disdain for Texas and all things it embodies, during this one hour, I can put all of my cynicism aside and just appreciate how beatiful the world really is and how grateful I am to be alive. Photographers refer to this hour before sunset as "the Golden Hour", and it's easy to see why. The light cast by a setting sun reveals the world as it was meant to be. In another hour, it could all change; anything can happen in an hour, but right here, right now, all is as it should be. It is well...
All of the fears, longings, desires, anxieties, insecurities, and guilt that plague every minute of every day relax with me, as if sitting next to me, watching as beams of light dart between the silhouettes of the trees. "We'll be back in the morning, but for now, rest," they whisper, believing that they have the power to grant it to me, that they have control. Sometimes, I believe it too, but not right now. Right now is Truth. Right now is Grace. It is well...
As I write this, sitting on top of my car, I can't help but feel peace as the sun begins to slide slowly behind the trees. I am overwhelmed by the desire to tell someone I care about that I love them. No logic I could ever conjure can explain this compulsion, but I suspect it is because in this moment, God's own love, the Love that sacrificed itself for my sake, is being communicated to me without my consciousness. This must be what it feels like to be content. This is what it's like to know and desire my purpose: to love my God and to love my brother. I wish I could feel it all the time. I wish I could understand it. I know the next few hours will very likely bring a change of heart, but at the very least I'm thankful for the reminder. I'm thankful for the peace, for the quiet. It is well...
"When peace like a river, attendeth my way,
When sorrows like sea billows roll;
Whatever my lot, Thou hast taught me to say,
It is well, it is well, with my soul."
