The Gift of Darkness to Light

I took this on one of our early morning walks...

Positive Pensées

Kathy King

The Gift of Darkness to LIght.

“In order for the light to shine so brightly, the darkness must be present.”

Sir Frances Bacon

Do you feel encompassed by darkness?

Do you feel the weight of its might?

The light just can’t permeate, you just want to give up the fight.

You try to find your way, you crawl and use your hands. 

You feel around in the darkness. 

You try to stand. 

You are not sure you can find your footing.

You squint your eyes to see.

That one little pin prick of light, that will guide you to luminosity.

You stand and pray.

You hope and dream that this light will come to be. 

Your prayers lead you to firm footing, and you think that you just might see…

A small bit of shining as your eyes adjust to the dark, could it be?

Your spirit is bolstered, your heart starts to beat with a quick pump and a start.  

You take those ginger steps towards that small source of light. 

It becomes brighter and brighter as you squint with all your might. 

The prayers, the tears, the heartache, the storms.

You see them start to dissipate.

As the light just comes a little brighter with each step you take. 

When you have your sure footing your steps become more sure. 

Dear reader, it is most certainly darkest before the dawn. 

Of that you can be sure. 

Don’t give up, pray, stand up in the dark.

So that when the sun begins to shine you know you made it even when times were dark.

Give thanks, feel the light, know your strength. 

You can do this, you are stronger than you think.

Today I was pondering the phrase, “It is always darkest before the day dawneth.” This phrase was uttered by theologian and historian Thomas Fuller. He uttered this phrase when he stood on Mt. Pisgah.  Moses stood there before his death to see the promised land. There are times when I feel that we are in a very dark time in humanity.  We have so much as compared to other places. Yet, well… we think it is too little. Recently I read a book about places in Appalachia where there are folks who cannot read, they don’t have running water or heat. They are destitute in poverty.  Right in this country.  It really caused me to convert my, “Ugh, I have to go to the store.” to “I am so blessed to be able to go to the store.”  This past year in our home has been dark, there have been health issues galore with several family members, other traumatic events as well.  Top it all off with the news cycle, social media, the division of folks. It just seems dark, right? You often hear people equate dawn and sunrise.  When in fact they are completely different. Dawn is when you can detect a little light in the sky.  Sunrise is when the sun makes its first peaks over the horizon.  I have shared many writings about my dark:30 walks with my husband.  This morning it was early, cold, and honestly I did not feel like doing it.  What a great attitude, right?  But in my move towards changing my line of thinking I stopped.  I thanked God that I woke up, I could walk, and as we were coming down the driveway, I saw the first pin pricks of light announcing the dawn. A lot of the time we have to tread some darkness to bask in the full light of day.  What is the real point of this musing? Keep going, keep the faith, keep praying, keep that strength.  Crawl, walk, stumble towards the light.  When the path is clear and lit, you know you have made it.  Let us pray for our world.  Let us pray for those who are in the midst of harsh war. Let us pray for our country. Let us pray for each other.  I leave you all with a quick story about Cpl Duane E Dewey.  He fought during the Korean war.  Earlier he had been significantly injured by a grenade during an attack during the night.  They were outnumbered and outgunned. Cpl. Dewey saw a grenade land in the midst of the soldiers.  He told everyone to get back and he selflessly jumped on top of the grenade. He was lifted off the ground and still survived.  When he was taken for treatment, they also found a gunshot wound in his stomach.  He was the recipient of the first Medal of Honor ever presented by Dwight D. Eisenhower.  Cpl. Dewey thought nothing of saving his whole squad in a very dark time.  We probably won’t ever be faced with a situation as dark as this (God willing)..... But we can appreciate his bravery of climbing from deep darkness into light.  Keep searching for that pinprick of light.. Eventually your path will be gloriously illuminated. 

Sources:

Uso.org

Bookbrowse.com

My Books are on Amazon!

The Quacktastic Adventures of Ellie and Lord Barks a Lot

Clean it Up!  Wash it Up!

Coming soon:

The Case of the Missing Honk Honk

The Case of the Missing Ornaments

Appalachian Allegory