This Little Light

[mantra-pullquote align=”left|center|right” textalign=”left|center|right” width=”33%”]Darkness can not drive out darkness; only light can do that.  Hate can not drive out hate; only love can do that.Martin Luther King Jr.[/mantra-pullquote]

The World shifted for me a little bit yesterday.  I did not think I would ever again see darkness like I saw on 9/11 in my lifetime.  But what happened in Newtown CT yesterday was darker.  The targeting and deliberate killing of children is beyond something I can even begin to try to wrap my head around.  Little lights that will never have the chance to shine.

I, like so many others, have been struggling to make sense of this madness, only to realize that there is no sense to be made.  This was senseless.  So tonight, I did something I haven’t done in a very very long time.  I bundled Sam up and took him to church to pray.

A blogger/writer that I am constantly drawn too re-posted this today:

“When the world feels too loud, we must be quiet. When the world feels too violent, we must be peaceful. When the world seems evil, we must be good.”

Today the world felt too loud, too violent, too evil so I went to the place where I could hold my baby in silence, in peace and seek goodness.

I held Sam on my lap, and closed my eyes and prayed that I can be strong enough to comfort my kids when the World feels too evil to them.  That I can set them on a path to be one of the helpers.  And that I can teach them that when darkness falls they need to shine their light even brighter to illuminate the way for those who are hurt and broken and lost.

My husband is so wise.  While I was sitting in my car falling apart yesterday afternoon and questioning just what the World had come to, he posted this:

“I see many people questioning whether the world is a good place. Personally, I will not let the evil actions of 1 or 2 people define this world. I am far more confident that there were scores of brave sacrifices going on in that school that far outweigh the cowardly actions of a few. And I know that the school community, the town, the state and the country will band together to support those families moving forward. So yeah, I think the world is still a pretty good place.”

Yesterday, Matt was my hero.  He reminded me to look for the bright shining lights.  And I think that is what we all need to do because those are the lights that will lead us out of darkness.  That light is hope. And as I get my bearings again I am reminded that I need to shine brighter too.  I need to be better.  I need to love harder.  I need to be more patient and kind and thoughtful.  I need to be less hurried and judgmental and inconvenienced.

I hope that as we move forward we can all shine a little bit brighter to make up for the precious lights that were taken far too soon.

 

 

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4 Responses to This Little Light

  1. Beautifully written, Amanda. Your words really resonate with me. <3

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