turning point

A couple years back I had the privilege of travelling around part of Scotland with my mom, 82 at the time, and my sister.  The three of us girls had such an incredible time.  I loved driving on the left side of the road (with the steering wheel on the right--my husband would have been proud. ) It took some getting used to and was more than a little bit hilarious at times.

I remember being mesmerized by a gorgeous fishing village called Gardenstown, tucked snugly into the cleft of the steep northeast coastline.  While searching for somewhere to eat, we squeeked and  squeezed down this narrow street (that did NOT lead to any kind of restaurant) and then wondered how we'd ever get turned around.  The sign posted at the end of this block struck a funny bone that day:

No kidding!!!  We laughed, took a picture and turned our  rental car around, backing up and inching forward repeatedly until we finally pointed in the right direction and drove out the way we'd come.

As I sit thinking today about the narrow passages of our lives, the squeezed in, cramped up places where we inch our way forward only to arrive at a dead end, I think of that sign.   Though stating the obvious, it contains some poignant wisdom if we are attentive:  DO NOT PARK HERE.  This is not your destination.  This is not where you were meant to stay.  There's no room for you here.  THIS IS A TURNING POINT!

Ah.......turning point.  Yes!  This simple sign reads like a message of HOPE to those of us who are stuck -- stopped at a place where we never intended to be, never dreamed of being, probably never wanted to be.  When we're hemmed in on every side, it's hard to see that new possibilities are just at the end of this street and around the corner.

We forget that the landscape of our lives is vast and beautiful.  It will open up wide again.....we are just at a turning point, that's all.  There is hope.  Always hope.  So much hope. 

And yes, sometimes there is danger:

but could it be possible that the gravest, most imminent danger we face is losing sight of the One who is Eternal Hope?

"So we do not lose heart. Though our outer self is wasting away, our inner self is being renewed day by day. For this light momentary affliction is preparing for us an eternal weight of glory beyond all comparison, as we look not to the things that are seen but to the things that are unseen. For the things that are seen are transient, but the things that are unseen are eternal."

2 Corinthians 4:16-18 


God whispers hope...a secret right into every listening heart --a secret so potent and powerful that the quiet knowledge of it silences all the banging noise and clamour of despair.   He offers Himself, eternal Light; the only way through our darkness: 

“For like a shaft, clear and cold, the thought pierced him that in the end the Shadow was only a small and passing thing: there was light and high beauty for ever beyond its reach.”

-J.R.R. Tolkein in The Return of the King. 

photos and text © melody armstrong (unless otherwise cited)