Lenten Meditation: The Light in the Path
And let them be lights in the expanse of the sky to give light on the earth. And it was so. God set them in the expanse of the sky to give light on the earth, to govern the day and the night, and to separate light from darkness. And God saw that it was good. ~Genesis 1:15, 17, 18
The Light in the Path
In 2020, the pandemic changed the whole world. I closed my office in March. Insecurity and fear gradually entered my life because I didn’t know when I could return to work and how I would be able to pay my office rent. Day by day, no one could tell us anything about when the pandemic would end. In the news, we learned that more and more people were infected or even died. Unlike the days when I had to work from Monday to Saturday, I was at home every day. I didn’t want to live in a sense of instability and fear. I started walking outdoors every day.
That path is the tree-lined path from my house to Christ Church. Back then, when my father came to visit me, he liked to walk on this path. At that time, I worked most days and I didn’t have time to accompany him. He always walked alone on that path and waited for me to come home after work and chat with him. Walking on that trail day after day, my heart is full of peace, although the pandemic is getting worse. Not only do I enjoy the beauty of nature, I also have more time to slow down and communicate with God, and I have more time to talk with my dad in the spirit and thinking of my mom. I told them “I miss you very much.”
When I see the sunlight sprinkling on the path through the treetops, I know that my parents are with our Lord and Father in heaven. There is no pain, no fear, and no anxiety. A small path leads me to immerse in God’s grace. It’s a beautiful way for my meditation. There is no fear, only peace and love.
Spiritual Path to Christ
Since I became a Christian in 1999, I prayed for my family every day, especially my father and mother (they divorced when I was a young age). How I hoped that when they got old, they would have God’s care to lead them in their later life. In that time, they were happy for me that I have my life of walking with God, but they did not want me to talk to them about going to church. I continued to pray for them every day. The years passed.
When my father was 79 years old, he came to visit me. After he accompanied me to church on a Sunday, he asked me if he could become a Christian. He did not understand English and I did not know why he suddenly wanted to be baptized and become a Christian. But I know that God has God’s way, and I must help my father. Otherwise, after he returned to Taiwan, he would be alone again. On November 5th, 2006, he was baptized in Christ Church and became a Christian.
He wrote in his diary: “After being baptized, my lifestyle must be corrected, bad habits must be cut off, everything starts with kindness, and life must be improved in my later years.” Since then, he started to read the Bible. Although he often told me that his eyes were bad, reading was very hard, and he often didn’t understand the meaning, I told him that it doesn’t matter, God will help you by himself.
Several times I went back to Taiwan to visit him and saw him get up in the morning and before going to bed every day, he always knelt in front of his bed and prayed for more than 20 minutes. Neither his backache nor knee pain would stop him from insisting on kneeling and praying, until the morning of his death. In 2016, my mom passed away. In 2017, my dad was graced by the Lord and returned to heaven in peace.
Turn your eyes upon Jesus.
O soul, are you weary and troubled?
No light in the darkness you see?
There’s light for a look at the Savior.
And life more abundant and free.
Turn your eyes upon Jesus.
Look full in his wonderful face.
And the things of earth will grow strangely dim.
In the light of His glory and grace
by Jane A.