Has this ever happened to you?
You travel along life’s path and you notice something to the distance. Maybe a message or a clue. You just don’t know or understand what it means or even what it is. Then as you are strolling along you see something else and well it makes you feel strange deep down inside but still you keep strolling along and then that becomes a distant memory.

Finally, after several more unknown encounters with this mystery, it happens all the pieces join together and form something very large and tangible and it smacks you hard across the head. You are jolted and suddenly a very sick feeling rises up from the depths of your soul. You realize, suddenly the mystery is no longer evasive, and you suddenly know what all the clues where screaming.

You wonder, why oh why, did I not understand??? How did I miss something that is so freaking obvious? Did I run from it out of fear deep in my soul? Did I see and it was so painful that I dared not remember for the fear of implosion of all reality? Maybe like a splinter my mind encapsulated it with some strange forgetting fluid just to preserve my life and keep the toxic away from me. Whatever the reason, whatever the clue, and whatever the mystery. Somehow now the truth is known and the awareness is real.

How do you contend with this awakening? How do you forgive yourself for no realizing or recognizing this mystery before now. Or were the clues laid down for the complete understanding at this point in time not the other times. Like a puzzle when the pieces are scattered it is impossible to determine the picture. But with every added new piece the revelation of the picture becomes a bit clearer. The breaking point is when there are enough pieces that you can begin to see what is forming. Eventually there becomes the line of demarcation when you know beyond a shadow of a doubt what the picture is. At this point more clues come but it only completes the picture you are all too well aware of.

The repercussions of this mystery revealed are so life changing and possibly even life damaging that you may struggle with continuing along the stroll. You may just want to collapse on the very road you are strolling along on. Sometimes you may crawl slowly forward for fear has taken over and you really don’t want the picture to be complete in its fullness.

The question is now are all the pieces going to complete a dark and scary picture. What if a new puzzle is forming and it is just as ominous. Will there be any roses to stop and smell or will it all be a frightening picture. Will I have to wait to see the real work that isn’t scary until after I die, and if this is the case can I just die now to be able to see the beauty instead of the toxic.

These questions may arise and many more. How do you recover from a dark and scary mystery revelation and still continue along the journey of life with hopeful expectation and excitement and love? How do you still believe?

What factor flips the script, so we can once again walk life without ducking and taking cover with every loud sound or crash that happens about us. How do we walked unphased as if the traumatic event never happened? Are we supposed to forget, what does true healing look like? How can we be healed but still be wise? How can we be wise without fear?

What does it look like to walk through a horror movie and not be phased nor be hurt? How do we continue to walk at all? Remembering that Jesus was with me when this journey began so that hasn’t changed? Knowing that this journey is through darkness and pressing on towards the light. Where oh where is that blasted finish line?