Fighting With a Shadow

We witnessed an hilarious scene earlier this week here at Refuge Ranch thanks to our youngest son, two year old David. I came out of school and he was standing on the sidewalk between the main house and our home, pointing at something on the ground and babbling away to Vero, one of our staff members. I sauntered up to observe and join in the "conversation." David was fervently pointing out a small shadow on the ground and blabbing away - obviously something in relation to the shadow. Now, mind you, it was about 1:00 p.m., so there were lots of shadows! This particular shadow was created by a tarp that is tied onto the porch roof next to our laundry area to help protect those working in that area from the sun and wind. Due to so much wind recently, the tarp has torn and one torn edge was creating a peculiar, triangular shadow on the ground, probably no more than 7 inches in diameter. Well, it was peculiar enough to totally grab David's attention, and even create some concern in him. (We will never know why!)

Our precious David!

Vero and I began to "converse" with David about the shadow. This means we would ask him questions and he would give us perfectly passionate, and totally intelligible, answers! At one point, he finished babbling, turned around and walked very purposefully towards the house. I turned to Vero and said, giggling: "He knows exactly where he's going and what he's doing." Within a few seconds, he came back out of the house with a large tupperware container in his hands. He promptly walked up to the shadow and plopped that tupperware container down over the shadow. He was trying to catch the shadow!

Vero and I both just stood there with our mouths draping open! David then lifted up the container and, seeing that the shadow was still there, dumped the container on it again. This happened several times, until he just decided to keep the container over the shadow. It was, after all, the most effective way to keep that nasty shadow trapped!

Wanting to test our theory, I moved the container a few inches to one side of the shadow. David immediately moved the container back over the shadow. We continued this little game for a few more minutes. David took a few steps back and pondered his predicament of the shadow that would not go away!

He then ran up to the shadow, gathering speed as he came, and kicked that shadow with all his might, stomping and kicking repeatedly on that funky little triangle! (What made this all more fun is that the shadow was caused by the tarp, which kept blowing in the wind and moving the shadow all around!) Seeing that this strategy did not work either, little David took off again...obviously on another mission clearly known to him, but hidden to all of our understanding. So, Vero and I waited for his return. Sure enough, within a few seconds he reappeared...this time with a rock in his hand! He walked right up to that shadow and threw the rock on it! We asked him: "Did you kill it?" He babbled something back at us, picked up the tupperware container and returned it to the house. So, I guess he had declared the shadow dead.

Wow! I was amazed at this whole little adventure and witnessing David's decisiveness in trying to get rid of this shadow, in his passion to rid the world of this great evil! What enthralled me was all of the thought and energy that David was putting into...a shadow...an "object" that does not even exist! Wait a few hours and it will be gone! Stand between the real object and the source of light and you make it disappear! But, to David, this shadow was serious business and a serious problem that needed to be resolved.

The Bible talks about two kinds of figurative shadows. The first kind of figurative shadow is when the Bible teaches us, repeatedly, that our lives and this world are like a shadow in two ways. First of all, our days are fleeting, like a shadow. Wait a few hours and the shadow disappears as the sun changes position. Our lives, from an eternal perspective, last just a few hours, if not minutes or seconds!

The Bible also tells us that what we see, hear and experience now is just a shadow of things to come! I can tell you that the shadow of the tarp did not at all look like the original piece of tarp causing the shadow! The tarp is a bright blue, the shadow was a dull gray. The torn edge of the trap had frayed corners, folds and waves in it. The shadow was totally flat. I could see how the small piece of tarp was attached to the entire tarp and even tied to the house. The shadow seemed independent, small and insignificant. That is what life on earth is like! Even the marvelous creation that we see, the mountain outside my office window, is a flat, gray copy of the marvels waiting for us in heaven! We may not understand or see now, but all that happens around us and to us is part of something greater and much more significant.

The second figurative meaning of a shadow in the Bible refers to our moving and existing under the shadow of God's mighty hand, or His wings. This implies our being protected from the heat and onslaught of daily life and problems. There is still light, the problem is still there, but God's hand, His wings, take the onslaught and leave us with just a shadow of the situation.

Part of what made the experience with David so hilarious was watching him fight with a shadow! How ridiculous can that be! But, how many times do we act like David - getting all bent out of shape, consumed and absorbed by this shadow of a life that we are living! So, today, when you are tempted to go bizerks...just remember...it's not worth fighting with a shadow!

"These are a shadow of the things that were to come;
the reality, however, is found in Christ."
Colossians 2:17