The Light Waits Behind the Mask

The house is quiet now, but your heart is loud with the fear that your child has learned to hide their true self just to keep the peace. You watch them move through the morning light, wondering what parts of them have gone underground to survive the silence.

But listen — the light that lives inside them was there before the hiding began, and it is still there now, untouched by the mask. You cannot force the door open, but you can sit by it.

You can be the quiet presence that makes the hiding unnecessary. The kingdom of God is within them, even when they cannot feel it, even when they pretend it isn't there.

And that inner light is waiting for a moment safe enough to shine. The dawn does not demand the sun rise faster; it simply arrives, again and again, until the shadows have nowhere left to hide.