Twilight

I share a story from Paulo Coelho's Maktub which affected me for the better recently. It helped me to understand why darkness comes and that darkness comes.


Existe um momento do dia em que fica difícil enxergar direito: o crepúsculo. Luz e as trevas se encontram – e nada é totalmente claro ou totalmente escuro. Na maior parte das tradições espirituais, este momento é considerado sagrado. 

A tradição católica nos ensina que às seis horas da tarde devemos rezar a ave-maria. Na tradição quéchua, se encontramos um amigo à tarde e estamos ainda com ele no crepúsculo, devemos começar tudo de novo, saudando-o novamente com um boa-noite. 

No momento do crepúsculo, o equilíbrio do planeta e do homem é testado. Deus mistura sombra e luz, quer ver se a Terra tem coragem de continuar girando. 

Se a Terra não se assusta com a escuridão, a noite passa – e um novo sol torna a brilhar.


There is a time of day when it is difficult to see clearly: the twilight. Light and darkness are - and nothing is totally clear or totally dark. In most spiritual traditions, this time is considered sacred.

The Catholic tradition teaches us that at six o'clock we pray the Hail Mary. In Quechua tradition, if we find a friend in the afternoon and we are still with him in the twilight, we start all over again, hailing him again with a good night.

At the time of twilight, the balance of the planet and the man is tested. God blends shadow and light, wanting to see if the earth has the courage to keep turning.

If the earth is not frightened by the darkness, the night passes - and the morning makes a new sun to shine.

Coelho, Paulo (2009-12-29). Maktub (Kindle Locations 1028-1036). Paolo Coelho. Kindle Edition. 

President Clark called this spiritual twilight the Personal Frontier, in his Jan 2011 BYU-I Devotional Address Faith Like a Grain of Mustard Seed.

That is where we find our personal frontier.  There is a personal frontier for each one of us in every covenant, commandment, calling, and assignment we receive from the Lord.  The frontier is defined by the light we have already received and by our knowledge, understanding, skill, and experience.

The frontier is where the Savior works.

Perhaps this is where the God the Father forsook his Son; perhaps this is where we are when we feel abandoned, in the dark.

The Frontier is where the Savior works.

Hurrah for Bike Month!

I want to ride my bicycle, I want to ride my bike.

Behold! the bicycle, a beautiful creation. Once an endangered species, now a monarch reclaiming its kingdom. May is National Bike Month, and this month I have witnessed many folk in Mesa, AZ riding their two wheels of glory. Once limited to the narrow gutter between the dusty sidewalk and the busy road, now it rides easy down the bike lane of luxury.

I saw the working man on his Walmart bike putting his full-suspension frame to good use, smashing over the curb on his way out of the parking lot.

I fathomed the elegance of the business man, with his 21-speed roadster laden with rear panniers and a handlebar bag in the front, entering his workplace wearing his bike shorts with pride.

I grasped the the unprecedented style of the hipster riding his fixie to no place at all, sacrificing speed for simplicity, exchanging all those gears for back pain, and trading the ability to go up hills for the title’s of “such-a-boss” and “uber-cool”.

Once, I even glimpsed the unsurpassed beauty of a girl in a flower print dress riding her custom beach cruiser along a dusty road as the desert blossomed like a rose behind her.

Bicycling keeps us healthy, carries us efficiently along our chosen path, saves us from high gas prices, and makes our air cleaner and our roads less congested.

The bicycle is the most efficient major form of land transportation in the modern world. “It takes less energy to bicycle one mile than it takes to walk a mile. In fact, a bicycle can be up to 5 times more efficient than walking,” and many times more efficient than cars, says www.exploratorium.edu.  Let me restate: cycling is more efficient than all other major forms of on land transportation, including, walking, carpooling, trains, and even horseback riding

For those of you who have ridden this month, I thank you. For those of you who have not, I encourage you to do so. For all of you, I invoke the blessings of nature upon you.

Tragically at the moment, I am without my bike, but if I had it, you know I’d ride it, and I’d power it with my own two legs, some local collard greens, and my mama’s granola. According to the national bike group PeopleForBikes, half of all trips Americans make are three miles or less—an easy biking distance. So when next you ride, ride a little for me.

Get on your bikes and ride!