the feeling that the light inside you has gone out

The sun is up, the world is moving, and you are already tired from pretending the light is still burning inside you. You put on the face that says 'I am fine,' you smile at the coffee shop, you answer the emails, but behind the mask, everything feels cold and dark.

It feels like the flame went out while you were sleeping, and now you are just going through the motions of a person who believes. But the light does not depend on your performance to exist.

Jesus told a paralyzed man, 'Son, your sins are forgiven,' before the man could even stand up or prove his faith. The healing came first, in the quiet space of being known, not in the public act of walking.

You do not have to generate the light today. You only have to stop hiding the fact that you feel empty.

The mask is heavy because it was never meant to be your skin. Take it off, even for a moment, and let the silence speak.

The light was there before you woke up, and it will be there after you stop pretending.