The Right Light

My favorite time of day to search for sea glass is early morning. When the sun comes up, but it's still close to the horizon, the long rays of light hit the beach at a low angle, and even the tiniest bits of sea glass glow like jewels.

It's the same sea glass that you might miss if you were passing by in the middle of the day, when the sun is shining straight down on it.

Once again, this reminds me of how we look at the people around us.

My little sister used to wear a cloth bib around her neck, even when she was six or seven years old, because the muscles in her mouth didn't work properly.  So she drooled all the time.

We'd go to the grocery store and people would stare at her, even though my mom and I were always wiping her chin with that cloth. They saw that bib, and her wet chin, and they couldn't get past it.

But I saw her in a different light.

My little sister was adorable.  She loved music, and doing simple craft projects, and drawing (some people might call them scribbles, but they were full of personality!), and she could laugh so hard that tears would roll down her cheeks and she'd collapse on the floor, all out of breath.  She was a joyful kid.

You just had to look at her as a person, instead of a disabled girl who drooled, to see that.

My task for you is to think about your disabled sibling.  If people are looking at them with a negative light, what do you think they see? Okay, now, imagine you could shine your own light on them--the light that sees the good things about your sibling, as well as the negative things.  What positive traits would you light up for someone else to see?  What are the things that you know are special and good about your brother or sister?

Dressed for Easter, long, long ago! See how cute our little sister looks!

Try writing some of those things down in your journal. Or maybe drawing them into a card to give to your sib, for no reason at all--just a card to say: here are the things that I like about you, the things that make you special. Or you could share them with a parent or another sibling. 

Try it! And if this is a tough day to try shining a positive light on your brother or sister, pick someone else to shine that light on right now.  Maybe you could shine it on yourself! But keep your eyes open, and you'll be sure to find some things to write about your disabled sib in the days to come.  All you need is a chance to look at them in just the right light.

Let that light shine on!