“Keep your face always toward the sunshine– and shadows will fall behind you.”     Walt Whitman

Note to Self #19 is pretty self explanatory don’t you think?

 I may need to give some more perspective though, before folks think I’m going to go and fry my eyes staring at the sun. 

When I read this quote, it gave me pause, as I considered the way it was phrased. Mr. Whitman didn’t say to keep your eyes toward the sun, but rather, keep your face toward it!

If we consider the sun for a moment, it is a thing of great power for our world… as long as it stays up there and we stay down here on the ground. We can look around to see the results of the suns capabilities, but if we look directly at this giant round ball of fire, we would quickly destroy our eyes. It sure feels sublime though, to close our eyes and let the warmth of the sun kiss our faces! 

As long as we can feel it’s reassuring presence, we don’t have to look right at the sun to know it’s there doing what it does for our planet… nourishing the earth and causing things to grow. 

While this quote simply says that if you are facing the sun, your shadow will fall behind you… there’s so much more meaning behind that phrase! Otherwise, I don’t think we would have written it down and made sure it wasn’t ever forgotten.

Personally, this phrase takes my mind and heart straight to my relationship with God. If we looked directly at our creator it would kill us instantly… too powerful for our human minds to handle! 

Yet He will walk with us, lead us, carry us and sustain us all the same… no need to look directly at Him to know that He is there. I look around at the results of what He does for me, and that is very reassuring. 

When I am having one of those days that seem to suck the life out of me, I like to pull out this particular Note to Self. It gives me pause to check my spirits direction and posture… am I facing the Son or am I trying to look at my silly shadow?

If I am within God’s purpose, dwelling there… I’ve no need to look behind for my shadow, as I am covered by His! By always facing forward and following the Son, I know how to find home…