These are troubling times. The world economy, still shaky, stands on the brink of a second collapse, only four years after the most devastating period since the Great Depression began. Violent attacks on innocents, on twenty young children slain in a vicious murder spree are discussed constantly on the airwaves. The US Government careens at what seems like breakneck speed towards what has been called the “fiscal cliff”, and retailers across the nation are clamoring for our money, while record numbers of homeless people hope for such simple things as a next meal, or a bed for a night.
The Darkness seems pervasive, all encompassing, and oppressive, like bricks stacked upon the chest. Desperately trying to see a light at the end of the tunnel, we look deeper into the darkness. Our eyes strain, and our heats race as the anxiety rises, but the only thing before us is more of the same. Void . Hopelessness.
And yet, the sun shines as brightly, the waves crash upon the shore, the wind whispers through the trees, the animals sing, and the crescent moon peered down upon us tonight through crisp clear skies washed by rain, indifferent to our suffering. Yes, life outside our Human pain continues unabated.
It's no secret that I love to feel small. The sense of awe and wonderment I have at the world and our universe persist no matter how wrapped up I become in the affairs of Humanity, and it is then that I see the light I could never find when staring into the maelstrom of darkness. No matter how hard I looked I could not see it. There was no glimmer of hope in terrible things we do to each other. Yet the moment I looked away, I saw the beauty surrounding me. Parents held children tighter. Mothers' smiles became as pure as the first moment they set eyes upon their own flesh before them. Evening sunlight on a palm tree. Fresh rain on my face late at night. Joyful singing from a nearby party. The world is full of beauty! As full as it ever has been, and we are a part of that beauty.
Like a black hole at the center of a galaxy, the maelstrom of darkness in Humanity will consume anything that gets too close. No light ever escapes. None. But like the galaxy, there are billions of beautiful stars all around it. In times like this, when I begin to feel the tug of that black hole, when the light fades from my periphery, I turn my head to look upon the stars around me in my own life. I love. I am loved. Beauty surrounds me. Beauty surrounds us all. ...and so I escape the maelstrom of darkness again, surrounding it with my light, praying that the others drifting closely will see it.
Thank you to all of you, the light in my life. May you, like the sun, continue to shine as brightly for us all.