I remember one night as a little kid when a huge thunderstorm knocked out the power to our house on Redbud Drive in Springboro. I was only five years old, and I was afraid of the dark. Worse still, when the storm hit, I was in a different part of the house than my parents and my four brothers and sisters. Panic set in really quickly.
But soon I could hear my dad’s voice as... he climbed the stairs. He knew I needed help, so he came looking for me. All I had to do was trust him, and follow him. The glimmer of a cigarette lighter showed us the way.
This story came to mind last weekend when, as always happens at a certain time and place, I quieted myself long enough to hear the still, small voice that whispers within me, the one that assures me that despite all of the uncertainties, complexities and inconsistencies that confuse and frustrate me every single day, everything is going to be okay.
Light does that, you know. It drives out the fear of darkness.
...
But soon I could hear my dad’s voice as... he climbed the stairs. He knew I needed help, so he came looking for me. All I had to do was trust him, and follow him. The glimmer of a cigarette lighter showed us the way.
This story came to mind last weekend when, as always happens at a certain time and place, I quieted myself long enough to hear the still, small voice that whispers within me, the one that assures me that despite all of the uncertainties, complexities and inconsistencies that confuse and frustrate me every single day, everything is going to be okay.
Light does that, you know. It drives out the fear of darkness.
...
SO WHEN THE NEWS makes it sound like the sky is falling, and the political pundits insult one another rather than professionally debate the issues, and when the weatherman threatens me with what feels like an eternity of winter, I go looking for light.
Shine light, and I will follow. Express it, and I will listen. Show it, and the world is all the brighter for it.
I like being around people who smile, who offer compliments, who do not judge, who seem happy with themselves and the world around them, and who approach problems with a goal of solving them instead of making them worse.
I search for music that lifts my spirit, for movies that make me laugh, and books that show me a new direction. This is where light can be found, to be a lamp at my feet and a light for my path.
I have a choice, to feel the bitterness of darkness or the hope of light.
Light offers solutions. It brings healing. It says darkness will be defeated.
...
DURING THAT THUNDERSTORM many years ago, my dad could have shouted directions at me from the bottom of the stairs. Or he could have left me all by myself, to get through the problem all on my own. Or he could have just made fun of me for being scared. But he didn’t do that because that’s not the kind of man he was.
Like so many people in the world, he brought light.
Some people not only bring light.
They reflect it.