Just Beyond the Bridge

Nov 4, 2013

There is something about autumn in this Pennsylvania countryside that turns my mind to ghost stories.

When the fog curls around the trunk of the weeping willow, I half expect to see the headless horseman ride by.

When I pass the field where the Hessian soldiers camped before they joined the redcoats, I think I almost see their faded muskets between the trees.

 

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There aren’t many places left in our world where the past feels so near. So everpresent.

Truthfully, I’m not sure I believe in death when I cross vast parking lots or stand beneath fluorescent lights. But I am learning. This place of somber black horse-drawn buggies, covered bridges, and old stone farmhouses is working a change in me.

I am learning that fluorescent light and concrete don’t tell the truth. I am learning that some realities can only be glimpsed in the low, golden light of Autumn.

I’m sharing a story about a covered bridge and a cloud of witnesses. I hope you’ll click through to read it at Living the Story (via BibleDude.net).

 

3 Comments

  1. Hannah

    My brother died this time of year from cancer, in 1995. I was 15. He’s been gone just longer than he was actually here. A part of the cloud of witnesses! I remember the twinkly Christmas lights in his room as he was dying, and it actually gives me great comfort when I hang up the Christmas lights each year. Matt is in eternal light. Part of me is there already too.

    Reply
    • Christie Purifoy

      Hannah, when I was 15 I lost one of the most important people in my world, my aunt. I can’t believe more years have passed without her than we had together. This image of the twinkling lights is so beautiful. I can almost see your brother and my aunt there in the light. Thank you.

      Reply
  2. Hannah

    I forgot to look back and see what you wrote here until today. I’m so glad you shared this uncanny similarity! Today, I’m irritated with my Christmas tree. I keep piling on the lights and the tree just isn’t bright enough. It seems to shine most brightly when the house is dark, but I want to pile light on top of light. I want to see their brilliance in the midday as well.

    I know I place where this is possible…..

    Reply

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