A Disclaimer

I would like to clarify some things.

1.) As much as I talk about the Land of Grace being HERE, and the Towers being THERE, and the Shadowlands being over THERE, and speak of them as though they were distant countries, the reality is that I can emotionally hop from one "land" to the next in a matter of seconds. I can sometimes even exist in all three at once. I say that I have "moved" into the Land of Grace, but the move is a slow process-- I find myself frequently back in the Towers, folding newspaper around one more mug, packing up one more box of books, stuffing one more sweater into one more suitcase for one more trip with the Uhaul. I might even bring bricks of the crumbled Towers with me into the Land of Grace, and stack them pointlessly in that open land, like a child might stack wooden blocks. And sometimes when I'm in the Land of Grace, I might quickly pull an umbrella over my head and darken Truth for a minute, wishing me back to the Shadowlands where Truth has been reduced to a mere whisper. I think it's possible that many of these lands overlap, bleeding into each other as fluidly as our emotions bleed into thoughts. I don't know if that's a good thing. But I think it happens.

2.) Also, have you noticed that, even as I deride the Towers for relying too heavily on formulas, there are a number of implied formulas all throughout this analogy?

3.) On that note, I feel the need to announce the fact that I am hypocritical far more often than I wish I was. In my "Casting Shadows" blog, I referred to the people in the Land of Grace as "we," including myself among them. Forehead smack. How often do I REALLY acknowledge my own shadow as I'm critically eyeing someone else's? I am outside the Land of Grace often. Learning still. Slowly.

4.) Furthermore, my very wise younger sister was recently telling me something that God was doing in her life, and I immediately tried to assess how that worked in terms of this analogy. She stopped me with a wry grin and said, "Nope. Don't even try. Not everything's going to fit into this analogy. God is WAY bigger than anything you or I could ever come up with." And I thought, Well. That is true.

5.) I know people in the "Shadowlands" who seem extremely content, free, peaceful, and happy. So that whole bit might be flawed too.

In essence, this analogy falls short in many, many ways, as any analogy must that tries to capture the ineffable essence of God and Christian spirituality. However, I have found this concept to be profoundly helpful in moving my heart to a place where it can more freely forgive and offer grace-- both to others, and myself. And as long as aspects of these "lands" continue to articulate themselves in my head, I think I'll continue to feel called to keep writing them out in some form.

Take them or leave them-- and please, let's all remember how incomprehensibly complex and rich our God truly is.