Let the Light Shine

Even the darkest night will end, and the sun will rise. – Victor Hugo

Being optimistic comes easier after suffering. Or so it seems to me. The darkest nights dawn upon the brightest days. Life knocks us around, some much more than others. I cannot pretend to know anyone’s mind except my own. But I can offer encouragement and perhaps shine a little light into the night.

There is a little light within us all. When terrible things happen, that light dims and grows weak. But courage and faith sustain us through the night. The sun will rise upon a new day. Perhaps the hurt will continue, but it will end. It is told that an ancient Persian poet, such as Rumi, once wrote “This, too, shall pass away”. Abraham Lincoln and many others have made use of this wise saying. I repeated it to myself many times during difficult times, and taught it to my children and to my students.

After the darkest nights, those first warming rays of a new day cast a tender light upon our aching souls. In those brightening moments rises also the opportunity for a new beginning – a rising optimism shines within our hearts and we breath the fresh hope deeply into our spirit. Although the passage can harden our hearts and embitter our souls, resist the temptation to become pessimistic. The universe sparkles with vitality – begin seeking and it will find you.

There is an immense driftwood log on the beach near me. At first I was saddened when I saw how old it was, and how it had been cut down for lumber but instead washed up on the beach. Day after day I walked past this giant of over two centuries in age, and thought was a pity it had been sawed and cast adrift. One early morning though I paused and started counting the growth rings, and a smile grew across my face when I passed the 95th ring – my father turned 95 this year. As I counted 100, 150… my smile broadened, and I laughed softly at the wonderful life this beautiful tree must have lived. There in the center, when it was a young sapling, George Washington was president and this part of the country was wilderness. Turn your heart, as the plants do, towards the light.