I’ve been thinking about sparkling water, sparkling jewels, and snow sparkling in the sunlight. It’s impossible not to notice when a sparkle catches our eyes. The glitter in our lives brings a joyful pause and a delightful pondering. Thank you for joining me for this contemplation of sparkles and the metaphor of glitter.
Note about the image: This is a rock from Mystery Acres. I found it broken like this and cleaned it up so the crystals inside would sparkle. The crown was a gift from some students many years ago, making me the queen of the classroom.
My Mysterious Mind
While visiting my daughter and her family to enjoy some time with my new granddaughter, I had a brief conversation with my son-in-law about glitter. He, like many cleanliness-oriented people, is no fan of the sparkly flakes that bring joy to children and craft-lovers. Glitter, once it has entered into a home, is impossible to eliminate. It clings to surfaces, even skin, and hides in crevices everywhere. For glitter-haters, the best strategy is prevention, with full banishment of glitter from the premises.
I’m not writing this to advocate for the literal proliferation of glitter; I’m writing about glitter to introduce a metaphor. Having a good attitude and being cheerful, is like glitter, it clings to everyone nearby. The sparkle of a good disposition flitters about and sticks to whatever or whoever is around. I experienced this on my third, and successful, trip to the DMV to get my Real ID. The dull clerk who checked me in was not sparkling, but the person who assisted me with my actual application was delightful and sparkly. When I left, I was happy to have finally completed my task, but also because of the glittery reciprocity of the experience.
In contrast, a bad attitude is like sand burs. These tiny annoyances cling to whatever or whoever passes by and are hard to remove. Like glitter, sand burs cannot just be shaken off. Unlike glitter, sand burs are prickly and irritating.
Attitude clings to those around us, no matter if it’s good or bad. Is your attitude like glitter…or like sand burs? It’s far better to sparkle than to be scratchy, especially because our attitudes affect others, and the effects can be difficult to remove.
Message of Mystery Acres
The forest isn’t a very sparkly place. We have many round rocks, but few contain crystals. The stream sparkles, but only in the spring when water is flowing, and then only when there’s sunshine reaching it past clouds and trees. Some nights the stars sparkle, especially if there is haze in the sky. Snow, too, can sparkle in the sunlight. And one morning, with spiderwebs blanketing the forest floor, the morning dew sparkled like tiny jewels scattered all around. Most of time, however, there’s limited visible sparkling in my forest.
The air at Mystery Acres, however, is always fresh and sparkling. Perhaps that’s why I am so refreshed from being there. Like fresh, sparkling water, the unpolluted air, filtered through acres of surrounding trees, brings deep restoration. The fresh air flows through my being and washes away the debris inside. I recently saw a delightful calendar with a page about sparkling. The drawing of a woman included this note: “She has sparkle in her DNA.” I love that! It made me wonder if I have sparkle in my DNA and I need the fresh air of the forest to wash it off so it can glitter again.
Like the rare crystal rocks, glittering water, and twinkling stars, we, too, might only have rare moments of sparkling. Sometimes, a few minutes of fresh air might help to wash away the sparkle in our DNA. The message of Mystery Acres is to find ways to sparkle.
Ancient Mystery’s Voice
“His people …will sparkle like jewels in a crown.” (See Zechariah 9:16)
The prophet Zechariah’s writings are believed to have been written between 520 and 500 BC. In verse 9 of the 9th chapter of this compilation of writings, Zechariah described a king riding into Jerusalem on a young donkey. The arrival of this king would bring a time of deliverance for God’s people, illustrated in prophetic language in verses 10 through 13. Then, starting in verse 14, Zechariah detailed a time of victory, referred to as “that day,” beginning the section with a vision of the Lord appearing and bringing powerful victory over His people’s enemies. In the second half of the 16th verse, Zechariah depicted God’s people as sparkling jewels in a crown.
Zechariah wrote his prophecies 2500 years ago, and, like all prophecies, the attribution to future events, some now historic, can be a subject of religious scholarly debate. The 9th verse of the 9th chapter, however, has strong support for being a prophecy of Jesus when He rode into Jerusalem at age 33. Jesus arrived as a king to bring deliverance for God’s people. Matthew described that connection to Zechariah’s prophecy in the book he wrote, in verses 1 through 11 of the 21st chapter (see also Mark 11: 1-11, Luke 18: 28-44, and John 12: 12-16).
Where religious scholars diverge in their interpretation is the verses from 10 through 17 of Zechariah’s 9th chapter. I’m going to skip over that debate and focus mainly on the theme verse; here the believers are prophesied to sparkle like jewels in a crown. Some translations use the word “glitter,” others use the word “shine.” Is this prophesized time of sparkling still to come, or has it already begun?
In my view, the time of victory and sparkling is already here for those who recognize the battle has already been won. Jesus’ entry into Jerusalem two thousand years ago was a victory parade. The parade route led him to being arrested, put on trial, and sentenced to death for claiming to be God. From the cross, Jesus announced, “It is finished.” In His own words, Jesus was declaring victory and deliverance through His death, the death of a King.
After being in the tomb for three days, Jesus came back to life in His human body, an event celebrated by Christians at Easter. Forty days later he went up into the sky to rule with authority over all of creation. In the next few decades, the spread of Christianity would almost completely eradicate human sacrifice across the globe, dramatically transforming humanity. There was victory in His death, a sacrifice made for all mankind.
Therefore, the time for believers to sparkle is NOW. Like the jewels in a crown awarded to the victor or placed on the head of royalty, those who believe in Jesus as their Lord, sparkle, even in a world still blanketed in suffering.
Living in Mystery
Sparkling is beautiful and enchanting, especially when everything around is dark and dull. But how can we live in the mystery and wonder of sparkling? How can we have attitudes like glitter and not like sand burs? How can we sparkle like jewels in a crown or crystals in a rock?
When I find a broken rock with crystals in the center, those crystals are usually covered in dirt. To get the crystals to sparkle, I use a toothbrush, water, and some soap. When the gemstones in my jewelry lose their luster, I immerse them in jewelry cleaner and use a little brush to scrub off the grime. How do I clean my sparkle DNA? How can you restore your sparkle?
There is so much in our daily lives that brings a layer of muck and dirt on our well-being. With rampant news of conflict and suffering, it’s impossible to walk through a day without becoming “dirty” from it. Protecting our ability to sparkle helps, which translates to minimizing exposure to bad news and destructive gossip. But preventing exposure is impossible except for someone living in complete isolation. And, even then, getting through a day without disappointment or frustration seems highly unlikely.
What can remove the dirt and debris from our ability to have a good attitude? A walk outside in the pure air can refresh our sparkle. Listening to joyful music can wipe away the toxins from our ability to glitter. Having an encouraging chat with a friend can polish our gemstone cores. And reading a daily meditation or listening to an inspiring podcast can restore our twinkling.
As an old mom to young parents, I invite you to think about what you are doing to the sparkle DNA inside of your children. Are you polishing and encouraging their ability to shine? Or are you tarnishing their sparkle with criticism and discouragement? Perhaps you need to work on clearing the debris from your own sparkling core? Your parenting can be glitter that clings to your children and brings brightness to those around them.
You may or may not like real glitter, but I hope I have encouraged you to find your sparkle. After all, who really wants to cover the world in sand burs? Find your glittering core because it’s time to sparkle!
Connecting with Mystery
Dear Lord of All Mystery, I confess to sometimes having a bad attitude instead of a positive one. Help wash away the dirt on my jeweled core, bringing my sparkling attitude into the darkness around me. Thank You for putting sparkle in my DNA. Help me be glitter in the lives of those who need more sparkle. Amen.
Bonus Content: Update on Oscar
Thank you to the readers who have commented on their enjoyment from reading about Oscar, the stray we adopted six weeks ago. As I write this, sitting on the front edge of my chair, he is asleep in the seat behind my lower back. He prefers to be as close to me as possible.
His ears have healed, and his fur is soft and thick. Even the scrape on his nose is barely visible now. His backbone and ribs are no longer protruding from prolonged hunger. Our other dog, a puggle named Smudgie, has accepted her new companion. They enjoy playing together in the house and the backyard.
Oscar is now fully house-trained and no longer needs to wear doggy-diapers. I left him for eight days while I visited my new granddaughter and her family; he’s been overjoyed at my return, not willing to let me out of his sight. I confess, it’s pretty great to be so important to him. I still marvel at how he came to be a part of our family, running across the path of my friend who was going to find us a dog from a rescue organization.
Notes from Dr. Mac
If you want to do your own investigation of any of the scriptures I use, I suggest you go to Bible Gateway. This free online version of the Bible allows a search of words or phrases in various translations. To enhance your appreciation of today’s verse I suggest you go to Bible Gateway and explore the “Other Translations” for Zechariah 9:16.
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