Spiritual Specials
Spiritual Reasons for my writing “The Shadow Thief”.
First and foremost, the title; to me, God is a shadow thief. His light is so bright, no shadow can hide from it. Just like the light that bursts from the crystal, God’s light fills every crack, exposes every hiding place, and fills all with His wonderful light. All darkness dissolves in His presence. And the really awesome thing is, we can be vessels of that light, just as Echo was a vessel. The Light flowed through her, allowing the crystal to burst open and flood the valley with brightness. (We can be lights to the world.)
I wanted to show more of the element of family in this story. And not just blood relation, but family in general, meaning, the people we are close to, those that help and support us, and those that we have fellowship with. Echo’s family was close, and they were there for each other. But her family wasn’t limited blood relatives. The elves, fae, and the people of the villages, even the horses, were all a part of her family. She drew comfort, strength, and love from all of them, just as one does with family. In God’s way, we rely on each other and on fellowship to keep us encouraged and continuing on the Pathway.
Dorian’s instruction in chapter 1 about the flexible trees: if we are hard-hearted and brittle, the smallest circumstance can cause us to break, especially if we are not relying on God. However, if we allow God to soften our hearts, make them pliable, we are able to endure even the strongest of storms. And, if our roots run deep in God’s love, we will be unbreakable.
Echo has to learn to accept her lot in life. She doesn’t see herself as being anything special and, in fact, doesn’t wish to be great. But she was called to a great and difficult task—not to mention frightening. Facing the darkness is scary, but with the light that God instills into our hearts and minds, the darkness becomes a lot less formidable. God is able to create strength in our weaknesses and then uses that strength to help us overcome the darkness.
Brecker is deceived by something that seems right, but is not of the Light. There is so much of this in the world today and it comes from the “Angel of Light”—the devil. He has a way of making things that are harmful to our spirit seem wonderful and right. And he’ll use our weaknesses against us to lure us away from God. Like most of us, Brecker’s greatest weakness was self—he wanted to do things his own way and not listen to the warnings of his dad or his family. If we ignore the Lord’s instruction and try to go our own way, we are opening ourselves up to the darkness, and it will get a hold on us—and once it has a hold, it’s very hard to break free. Each of us is capable of falling into that trap—keeping our eyes on God is the key to freedom from deception.
We have to be careful at all times of how we act and react to situations and people because we never know how we might be influencing others—even those we don’t know. Echo watched Ayden Green defeat a dead sorcerer in the village Ulway. The kind way he deals with the man greatly affects Echo, even though Ayden is unaware of this. And, even though Echo is unaware, her smile and enthusiasm toward Ayden encourages him to continue fighting the good fight. (As is explained in “Song of the Sword”—the companion to this story.)
The people of the villages, fearing the shadows that threaten their homes, begin to put their trust in hand-made trinkets. (Jiggers’ necklaces). Jiggers makes the point how foolish people are to put their faith in false magic instead of the real thing. As humans, we are so susceptible to this—we like to have something to SEE and TOUCH to put our faith in. But, “Blessed are those who have not seen and yet have believed.” (John 20: 29b NIV) Believe in the true magic of Christ—his power—and you will never be without help or comfort.
This wasn’t intentional, but I realized after I wrote the story how Belzac could be symbolic of Satan—not just in the way he deceived Brecker, but the fact that he was once a being of light—a Kavalah—and because of his wishing to dominate everyone and everything, was thrown into darkness, along with his followers. Echo feels pity for him in the end, because he’d forgotten the beauty that Light holds. She’s like me that way—I just want everyone to feel that Light from God—it’s beauty and comfort and power.
Echo is told that she possess an ancient, powerful energy. This made me think of God’s Spirit dwelling in us. That power is beautiful, intimate, and amazing. Through Him, we have more power than we could ever dream of--and it is a power of true Light.
Echo has to learn to believe in herself and the light that is given her to overcome the shadows. And, she has to learn to forgive even her greatest enemy—herself—in order to allow that light to flow through her. Self doubt and self loathing are big, bad shadows that can consume the light that God wishes to shine through us. It is important to let go of those things that haunt us—the things that God has forgiven us, but we haven’t forgiven ourselves. And not just forgiving self, but forgiving all those that we feel have harmed us in some way. Forgiveness opens the door—it is the key—to allowing the light into our hearts.
Things—and people—aren’t always what they seem. Cage is a lesson on not judging others by the actions of their people, families, friends, etc. or by outward appearance. Water wraiths have a bad rep—and rightly so in some cases. But, once Echo learns their history, she realizes she was wrong to think that all water wraiths are evil, heartless beings—they have emotions and fears and love just as she does. If we open our minds and look past outward appearances, that is, stop judging others without really knowing their hearts, we can be a great help to one another.
Keebo (this was unintentional, too) kind of ends up being Echo’s guardian angel. He is a friend that sticks close and watches her back—even saves her a few times. Just a reminder that we are never alone in this world—God and his heavenly hosts are near no matter where we go. (Is that awesome or what?)
I’m not sure I fully fleshed this idea out, but Echo and Shimmer’s connection with each other is showing how we are so strongly connected to one another. We all long to have a great connection with someone like they do. Having a great connection with the Lord is what I long for most of all—I find when I’m closest to Him, I also feel a lot more connected to those around me. He opens my mind and heart and I can “see” others more clearly.
I chose flying horses because, one, I’ve always daydreamed about them ever since I was little. And, two, I love clouds (and the idea of flying freely through them) and here’s why:
Psalms 104:3 “He makes the clouds his chariot.”
Nahum 1:3 “The clouds are the dust of His feet.”
Luke 21:27 “The Son of Man will come riding on a cloud.”
1 Thess. 4:17 “We will be caught and meet with Him in the clouds.”
Clouds cause us to look up—toward God. I love watching lazy clouds drift across the sky—it’s peace. Storm clouds can be beautiful, too. Depending on the condition of our soul, they can be frightening or beautiful. Through storm clouds, we can find beauty in our lives—tests and trials bring us closer to God.
Similar to Echo’s experience, at some point in our lives we find that we are more than what we think we are; and belong to something—or someone—greater than anything we could’ve ever imagined. We we truly find the Lord, we find peace, we find joy, and we find love powerful enough to cast out all shadows.
There is so much more I could write, but it would probably end up being another book! My hope is that you will find many more hidden spiritual lessons throughout the books as you read.
Let the Lord lift your dreams on the strength of His wings.
About the Author
K.L. Bauman often dreamed of winged horses while growing up in the wide-open spaces of Eastern Montana’s plains and badland areas. The big sky, prairies, and badlands were perfect places to set the imagination free. Currently, she enjoys spending time with the Lord, being with her family, reading, writing, watching movies, and observing nature. Kristi lives in a small Eastern Montana town with her husband, two daughters, two dogs, an
d two cats.
Conntect with the Author Online:
https://facebook.com/pages/The-Shadow-Thief/4141824620119868?ref=hl
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