When the
Light comes, the shadow no longer exists.
~Unattributed little proclamation for
December 20th , on a valued little daily calendar my sister gave me
26 years ago.
I’ve been
thinking a bit about this - Light - since the recent Sandy Hook massacre. Feeling, like you many of you, a weird combination
of assault weapon rage, sickness, heavy heavy sadness, gratitude for general
humanity, assurance in human resilience, profound empathy, a little fear that
extreme responses will screw up more things, concern for the kids, families,
community, and the long-term effects….. And, hope.
Outside of
my head, hope might be skimpy on a lot of fronts. And heartbreak is really now too familiar, and
awful, and close.
We know that
heartbreak sucks. So does hopelessness,
and the worry about the kids. Not just
theirs, but all of ours. The depth and
breadth of their heartbreak and shaky hope have many of us wondering what we can
do to make it better for them? How do I
or “we”, respond? Where do you even
start?
So that’s
why I’ve been thinking about Light, and hoping. The
quote from my little calendar is followed by this excerpt from John 1:4-5;
“In
him was life, and that life was the light of man. The light shines in darkness, but the
darkness has not understood it.”
So seems
the quote references the birth of or acceptance of Christ, as the Light. I happen to believe in God and have
experienced His light on a daily basis my entire life, within or outside of
crisis. I know Light, and whether you believe
in God or accept Christ or not, there is a world of truth in the Light statement.
You know
light too. Think about it, the power of it. Like, Lite-Brite, for example. Before it became an app it was a table-top
easel that held black paper, which you would stab with little colored pegs that
glowed with light. Brilliant! And
magical. My sisters and I would take
Lite-Brite breaks between our cool 1970s basement air guitar band gigs (playing to….the
dog) to recharge between musical sets.
Worked every time. For my Dad, floodlights would help us find deer (or just maybe, it was a Squatch!) in the
woods around our house, which was important to him since he was on an eternally failing mission
to save the shrubbery from their determined munching. The deer/Squatch grew huge, floodlights or not.
Later, I understood that to “shine a light on”
something meant to highlight it, and pay very close attention. I
learned what it meant to “lighten your load” and to “lighten their burden”, simple
principles that improve a personal or collective circumstance, especially when
undertaken sincerely, and well-informed. And then I began to
“see the light at the end of the tunnel”, to find the gold nuggets in the
circumstance.
There are tons of light-focused icons and symbols, which I won't keep mentioning because you already get it. Light-filled talk was always in our house in some way. That didn't or hasn't kept me from moaning and whining from time to time, but I've always understood that Light is a good thing to have, especially when you let it shoot out of your fingers and toes and the ends of your hair (as George Bailey imagined it).
So coming from this Lite-Brite place, I suggest
we focus on the Light within this circumstance, especially if it’s bothering
you as much as it does me. I don’t
necessarily mean that you and I address the aftermath of this specific event, though
we could. Educate yourself about
mental health services in this country, find the evidence supporting or
refuting the impact of weapon restrictions here and elsewhere in the world, sign
a petition, donate to first responder or parent groups, like a Facebook page….whatever.
But if we
want to “fix” things right here, around us, then I suggest we be a light, and shine one on, and
see the light in, our daily stuff. The daily shadows and trials and "horrors” we encounter. We don’t need to make grand gestures -
we need to pay attention
to the needs of our daily companions, and acknowledge them. Find the nuggets, find the words, find the
understanding, find the resources that fit, and connect to them. And share with companions that need it. No big deal, just what's realistic and positive. But the other side of the deal is....no withholding light from people we'd rather leave in a shadow because they've been annoying, or undesirable, or are on the wrong political side, or have bad teeth, or whatever.
It's kind of easy to serve up light for those like us or who we like. Let's keep doing that, and then let's kick it up a few notches to do the same for the rest of the souls in our daily universe. As my favorite 19th century hippie said;
“The purpose of life is not to be happy. It is to be useful, to be honorable, to be compassionate, to have it make some difference that you have lived and lived well.”
And
"...I settle myself ever firmer in the creed that we should not postpone and refer and wish, but do broad justice where we are, by whomsoever we deal with"
~ Ralph Waldo Emerson
(I should write these on my Lite-Brite. Whoa.)
I know it’s
not always practical to do this. I’m
lucky. I'm in a profession that’s Light-filled, but if I weren’t I know it would be challenging
to consistently step outside of myself and pay attention, in the same way. But it's worth a try, starting with our kids and families, then neighbors, and co-workers, and then with the moments in between these more obvious encounters. It’s worth it to try, a bit each day. And if you
agree, then, it's a deal.
Lights on, Ralph.
