DAY 38 — THE TWO SHADOWS

Two students stood in front of a wall
on a sunny afternoon,
watching their shadows stretch across the ground.

One shadow looked longer;
the other looked shorter.
The shorter one sighed,
“Your shadow is bigger.
You must be more important.”

The taller student laughed and said,
“My shadow is longer only because
I’m standing closer to the sun.”

The instructor overheard and said,
“Shadows are not measures of worth.
They only show where you stand.”

Both students walked away silently—
thinking less about shadows,
and more about the light.

Comparison is one of the greatest spiritual traps:
“Look how holy they are.”
“Look how much better they pray.”
“Look how weak my faith is compared to theirs.”

But shadows deceive.
You do not know another’s wounds,
their struggles,
their hidden disciplines,
or the grace assisting them.

Your journey cannot look like theirs
because God is shaping you differently.

Lent calls you to stop comparing shadows
and to start moving toward the Light.
Holiness is not measured by others—
but by how close you stand to Christ.