We love a family that is kind, curious, generous and who have raised a remarkable young man who lives with cerebral palsy.
In a time when our lives had been turned upside down and we were not sure when we’d emerge from shadows that had encircled us, this family invited us over for dinner.
Before the dinner began – as if picking up our emotional distress – Seth moved slowly with his walker to the kitchen and then with his big smile walked back and handed us a drawing he’d made at school. His father said, “he must really like you, he never gives people his art.”
It was a drawing of dark, swirling circles at the bottom that gradually lightened at the top. Lynn said, “that’s how we feel Seth, we’re at the bottom of your drawing. But we can see there is light above us.” Seth’s smile got even bigger.
(For email subscribers you’ll find a photo of Seth’s drawing at on-emotions.com).
We have come to believe two things are true.
- We all have moments when our lives are turned upside down and dark shadows encircle us. For example, one of our closest family friends died this week of a sudden heart attack.
- But this is also true. Seth Circles are real. For what encircles us all is the promise there is always light above us. Shadows don’t last forever. As a book in the New Testament observes, “the light shines in the darkness, and the darkness has not overcome it.”
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On Emotions 