Through Stained Glass: Advent Word a Day 16 -- Found

Found

          

   The sun found me lost in thought. My mind was restless, scattered, bouncing from one distraction to another. I reach for my phone, then turn to the computer to check emails, go back to the phone, and then I remember I did that thing today I put on my list, so I can scratch it off and get a hit of dopamine. What else on this list can I cross off? Better check my phone and see if I found anything worth writing about for today’s word. I wonder what tomorrow’s word is. Better log on to Facebook, but I won’t get caught up in the noise. 

Noise. My furnace isn’t running as much as it has over the past two days. It’s kind of nice to have this silence—unless, heaven forbid, it’s broken or something. I mean, if it is broken, at least it’s not below zero temperatures. What a great perspective. Wait. What’s tomorrow’s word? Tomorrow is Tuesday of the third week of Advent. It’s also Center day. Wait. Wasn’t I supposed to meet Andy at Hope on Fifth to give them the artwork the students created and the $670 raised from this project? Let me check my phone real quick.

Brigid enjoying the snow!

Yes, Andy says to be there at 5. It’s only 4:15 p.m. I’ll add ‘attend the meeting at Hope’ to my to-do list – more dopamine! Did I post about the Center last week? Is it too late to share one about how tomorrow’s the last gathering for the semester and 2025? Goodness, time flies. But does it? How is it already December 15th? Next week is Christmas. That doesn’t seem possible. Know what else didn’t seem possible? The Bills were victorious over the Patriots after trailing by 21 points, but Josh Allen found a way to lead them to victory. There was a funny meme about that I should send to my brother. I think it was on Facebook. Oh, right, tomorrow’s word.

What time is it? Oh, good. Plenty of time. It’s 4:20. Tomorrow’s word is... wait, did Tecumseh bark to go out? Yeah, he’s barking. Alright, let him out. Then what were you going to do? I wonder if Zack found a song for today’s word. I wonder what he might come up with for tomorrow’s word, which is… 

Yes, Tecumseh. I hear you, and I’m coming. Give me a minute, buddy. I’ve got to find my phone. Why do you need your phone to let him out? Let him out, then come back and finish whatever you were going to do. How much time do you have before you need to leave? It’s not even 4:30. Plenty of time.

That’s when the sun found me. It had already set, casting a gentle glow across the darkening December sky, but I didn’t see it outside my window. If I’m honest, I’m not sure I would have noticed it if I hadn’t stepped away from my desk and stopped searching for my phone. And look what I found—a shade of yellow you can’t see on the beach or even in July in the Midwest. I swear, the untouched snow holds the light the way a child clutches her teddy bear as she heads off to bed.

After grabbing my camera, with half-tied boots and no coat, I found myself outside. I remembered how this season's light highlights the golden tones in the Dogs' cream-colored coats. Truly a golden hour if there ever was one. I felt my cheeks reddening from warmth, not from the sun, but from the joy of playing and smiling a bit. Between photos, I breathed in this most ordinary of moments, allowing the slow fade of the setting sun on this winter day, and its traces of pink light be a balm to my weary eyes.

Serotonin in the simplicity of accidentally paying attention.

The sun found me when I didn’t even know I needed to be seen—a mystical moment on an ordinary Monday and all before 4:47.