As the dog days of summer fade and fall is starting, we still find ourselves on the hot days looking for shade and shadows to find cool and respite. The same can happen to us at work when things start heating up. The shade we find at the office is usually the shadows of the leaders that we can tuck ourselves within to relieve the heat. We each cast a shadow too that others will be looking to find so that they can find cover from us. How we manage our shadows, which means how we conduct ourselves, how we behave and how we treat other people. Yes, our shadows are how we role model and how we set examples. Our shadows create a shade for others that they then decide what and how they are supposed to do their work and their jobs. It is a very large responsibility that we each have, whether or not we know or like it. This past week a popular football player for the NFL’s New York Jets cast a shadow with a mistake he made away from the football field. He now carries the responsibility to ensure that others who are his co-workers, his fans and the youth who look up to him, understand that this is a shadow that he is not proud and would not want others to follow. We all fail, but we must pay attention to the shadow that we cast. We also should be sure that we are evaluating and watching the shadows that we walk into and behind. The shadows that we step into will never be pure or perfect. There is only one shadow that we can truly count on; “How precious is your unfailing love, O God! All humanity finds shelter in the shadow of your wings.”Consider today the shadows that you are walking under and the shadows that you are casting.

Reference: Psalm 36:7 (New Living Testament)