Granting Grace In Your Moments Of Darkness

“Be aware of what season you are in and give yourself the grace to be there.” — Kristen Dalton The annual traffic jam the departing Cape Cod tourists create on Labor Day weekend is a regionally accepted symbol of the unofficial end of summer. Life reverts to the life we so often work to escape, even if for just a little while. Inevitably seasons change. And while nature offers a predictable schedule for her seasons, life’s seasons have a seemingly random time frame of their own. As humans we’ve all experienced seasons of abundance, of loss, of growth, of stagnation, of community, of isolation, of clarity, of confusion. Some seasons I’ve wanted to last forever, others seasons have felt like they’d never end.  I often struggled in those unwanted seasons of loss, stagnation, isolation, and confusion. I didn’t understand why I kept finding myself in such darkness, angry at God for putting me in such a hole, and cursing Him for keeping me there.  Graceful I certainly wasn’t. Maybe that’s why I spent so much time there? The wisdom found in age changed my relationship with life’s seasons. I may still not know why I find myself dealing with the ones I’d rather not have to deal with, but having been through quite a few of them I know there is something the darkness has to teach me. From such a perspective I no longer resist the space I find myself in and instead allow myself the grace to be there, fully present. More listening than less asking. More allowing and less demanding. I still don’t like those periods of darkness but I know it’s an important part of my unfolding process, trusting the intentionality and curiously seeking to understand what I am in need of understanding. Allowing myself the grace to do so. Seasons change, and they will change us. May we all allow ourselves the opportunity to be compassionately present as they do. Photo by Antoino Lopez on Unsplash