Light Reflections

Winter is dark here on the tundra.
This week, thankfully, we have turned a corner.
We are waking up in the light.
Just a tiny bit, but light, nevertheless.

This morning I noticed the light on these delicate pink calla lilies from my Valentine.

A question popped into my head that good photographers probably ask every day:

What does the light want to show me?

It was painting the edges of this one.

I noticed it bouncing off the lines of the white chair in the background.

Then I saw this brightest blossom facing away from the others,
and I thought it just might be dancing.

It's Ash Wednesday, the first day of Lent,
the season of reflection before Easter.

Lent is meant to make you look a little closer.
This article described it this way:
"This is what Lent does.  It allows us to see the parts of ourselves we'd rather leave covered up.
It asks us to drag our full self into the light of day, no matter how dark it may be."

Of course the light exposes everything,
without regard to the condition of the subject.
It simply tells the truth.

The depths of my heart are scarcely as pristine as these flowers;
there are messes to be explored and dealt with.
But I think there is some beauty to be uncovered there as well.

So that's going to be my Lenten question:
What does the Light want to show me?

I hope to ask it, ponder it a little every day.
To respond with praise
with confession
with thanksgiving
with availability
with prayer for God's help and strength.

"For God, who said,
'Let light shine out of darkness,'
made his light shine in our hearts
to give us the light of the knowledge of the glory of God
in the face of Christ."
2 Corinthians 4:6