Light in the Darkness

Have you ever been afraid of the dark? I was one of those kids who dreaded getting up in the middle of the night to use the bathroom. I would slowly push the covers down and take a peek at the darkness around me. That was enough to send me right back under the covers again. Then, I would resort to plan B since I was never brave enough to follow through with my first plan: get up, run to the bathroom, use the bathroom, then run back and hide under the covers. It seemed so easy but I rarely mustered up the courage to do it. So, having a lovely sister with whom I shared my room, "NA! Are you awake? I'm scared!" At this point, if my sister was in fact sleeping, she was now awake...and that's how I liked it. As long as I knew she was awake, I could get up and go even in the darkness. 

I was having a conversation today with a 4 year old about a camping trip he went on with his dad. The story reached its peak when I managed to understand that a raccoon had emerged near their tents one night. I asked, "Were you scared?!" as I shared my own fear with him at the thought of an angry raccoon rustling about near my sleeping quarters. He responded very simply, "No, I wasn't scared. My dad was there." Oh, yeah. That's right. Duh! Of course...why would you be scared? Your dad was there.

In the darkness, in the hopeless moments of life, when we encounter death, trial, conflict, instability, betrayal, suffering, or just the uncertainties of every day living and of the bleak future that seems to loom over us...there is a light that shines in the darkness. As the night envelops us, we can grow strong and unafraid because this light still shines and is not overcome. There is a truth that illumines every secret place of our heart, every dark moment of our past, present, and future: our Dad is with us. God is the ever present "night-light" that glimmers through the shadows and His light never shines more brightly than when it is against the backdrop of black, of nothingness, of darkness. May we encounter the Light that shines in our darkness.

Grace and mercy will follow me all the days of my life.

ROCIO PEREZ