Backlit

Backlit

By Elisa Morgan

It was just a normal day’s walk. I took off out my front door, turned right and headed toward the path through the open space behind my house. My feet were confident in my spongy Hokas. My face was shielded from Colorado’s searing sun under my baseball cap. Some podcast kept my brain occupied.

As I crossed over a bridge spanning a creek, I turned right again and headed straight east, with the sun behind me. Suddenly occupied with the terrain, I noticed the colors washing out, blanching before me. The bright golds, yellows and oranges of fall flattened to beige. Yuk.

Completing my course, I u-turned toward home, now heading west as the sun dipped from its center point above my head. Instantly the colors popped. Greens, golds, yellows, oranges, even reds snapped before my eyes. Hmmm!

To check my perspective – and to see if it was maybe my sunglasses playing a trick – I turned back around and peered over the top of my glasses. Beige again. Continuing my pace home, the colors beckoned.

And then it hit me. I had been walking away from the angle of the sunshine. Now I was walking toward it. Time had passed and now, slanted from behind the trees, the sun lit the world from behind, igniting colors within each leaf and limb. The stalks of wild grasses shimmered as they lifted their seemingly on-fire tips of grain to the sky. The world before me was backlit – and therefore, beautiful.

I was curious about this word – backlit - so I AI’d the word. (AI is becoming everything so why not a verb?) Here’s what I found: “In visual arts, backlighting uses a light source behind a subject to create a striking, glowing effect, often separating the subject from the background and adding depth.” (Do you have to put quotes around AI stuff or give a source or just say it’s AI? #learning)

Life is like this, isn’t it? Our day-to-day seems beige and boring as we plow ahead. We plod diligently through our days and see dull drudgery. In so many moments we are walking with the sun at our backs. It might feel warm. We might fully know it’s still there. But the view ahead lacks interest – and joy.

Then we turn toward the sun and experience vibrancy revealed when its rays interpret what lies before us. Life is alive and gorgeous and beckoning.

In our walking days on this planet oh-so-many days will take us out over paths with the sun at our backs, some with its sting glaring straight into our eyes and then, those special moments when our view is backlit with the perspective only God’s light can provide.

Give us eyes to see we pray.

Elisa Morgan's latest book is Fruitful Living. She is the cohost of the podcast, God Hears Her. She is also the cohost of Discover the Word and contributor to Our Daily Bread. Her other books include Christmas Changes Everything, You are Not Alone, When We Pray Like Jesus, Hello, Beauty Full, and The Beauty of Broken. Connect with Elisa @elisamorganauthor on Facebook and Instagram.