Visual Purple

Visual purple, I say these words to my little sister Sarah, and she looked at me confused. What is visual purple...? Did you make that up, you must have, she says to me. I explain to her its the idea that it takes time for our eyes to see at night.

Def :
Rhodopsin, also known as visual purple, is a pigment of the retina that is responsible for both the formation of the photoreceptor cells and the first events in the perception of light. Rhodopsins belong to the G-protein coupled receptor family and are extremely sensitive to light, enabling vision in low-light conditions. Exposed to light, the pigment immediately photobleaches, and it takes about 30 minutes to regenerate fully in humans.

After explaining to Sarah what visual purple was, she looked at me still confused, and said well explain your whole theory again.. the one you have that says life recently is like visual purple.

So I thought it would be fun to write out my feelings on life right now, and see how clearly I can make my new concept seem to myself, Sarah, and anyone else who may read this.
I've found it hard to adjust to the season I am in. I have had a tendency lately to feel sorry for myself. Which is a normal human inclination, I know. But God doesn't want me that way. Even if my life seems hard to me, in comparison to the rest of the world, I am seriously lucky. I have a vehicle, running/ clean water, electricity, grocery stores just a mile away that carry fresh produce and food, and I have quick access to medical attention. I am amazingly blessed. Yet I still find that adjusting to this new season of life is hard.
In the past two years I have seen a lot of hardships, economic downfalls, and people losing their homes, their marriages, and many other losses. I have also been blessed enough to see new marriages and new life be brought into this world. All this change that has occurred is amazing. It takes some adjusting to.

Some people have said to me that my current circumstances are just a temporary season. This may or may not be true. For the most part even if it wasn't true, life is just a season and when God calls me home all the stress will be over, end of season. My friend Monica brought up in my women’s group, what she heard at a leadership summit. She said the leader had a profound thought, and something she hadn’t really considered, he said “what if the economic hardships of America are not just a passing season. What if this is how it is”. Monica said something that has been spinning in my head for the past few days, “no matter what the season we find ourselves in we should always help one another”. There is always going to be someone better off than us and someone worse off than us. No matter our situation we should find a way to reflect God, and find away to help one another. If not financially, we should feel compelled to help in some way or another.
My visual purple for life is taking its time. Just like with my eyes, I have to be in the dark for a half hour to actually attain the ability to see well at night, maybe God wants me in this hard spot so I can see how to make my life, and others lives, better. Making it better doesn't mean having more things. It’s an attitude, an adjustment. So life is like the process of visual purple, I realize now the need to be in the dark in order to see the light. It’s a simple truth that I have found, the light is always there.