It’s amazing when a tragedy happens that the world just keeps spinning on its axis. The skies are blue this morning, the sun is shining, the birds are singing. Nothing has stopped except for those whose lives have forever been transformed by the tragedy of last night. The light has gone from their lives and the darkness of loss has been turned on leaving them wondering how a life could be taken for no reason. In Matthew 5:4, Jesus said, “Blessed are those who mourn, for they will be comforted.” Prayers for the families impacted by the tragedy.

I got up this morning with two thoughts — I had my pajama shirt on backwards and I had left the hose pipe on all night! Course the hose was watering the weeds and poke salad stalks instead of my dry grass. Ate my Mrs. B’s biscuit and cantaloupe perched in the porch watching the songbirds. Penelope was giving me the poor starving dog routine but I ignored her antics since she had wolfed a half-cup of dog chow and a little can of chicken right before we came outside. She is a bottomless pit. Let her hear cellophane crinkling and she’s right on it. She can be snoring and I try to quietly open a snack and she’s up like revelry.

The sky was dark blue and perfectly cloudless in all directions this morning. When I looked at the sky later Father Sky had sketched a few wisps of thin white clouds. The morning was quiet, even the bird songs were muted, and I worshiped with the nature in my yard — the handsome songbirds, and the colorful butterflies, and delightful tiny honey bees. I was studying the butterflies as they stretched their wings and imagined them as tiny canvases for Mother Nature’s watercolor brushes.

Oldest brother came by for a visit early afternoon and we sat on the porch talking and sharing the box fan. He bragged about the hummingbirds at his house and I bragged on the small flock of purple finches visiting my feeders. When he left the heat brought me in the house for some quote searching.

I love the analogy of God and light. “Thousands of candles can be lighted from a single candle, and the life of the candle will not be shortened. Happiness never decreases by being shared,” Buddha. I’ve had lots of candles lit by family and friends throughout my life as I faced the darkness of sorrow and grief. Their lights gave me hope and brought God’s grace back in my life. And nothing is more glorious than shared happiness. Happiness seems so hard for some people. They just can’t push the darkness away for wishing for the unobtainable. We should be content to love the life we live. Life is so precious and so fleeting. Like I’ve written many times, we’re not promised a tomorrow.

We all have darkness in our lives when we have challenging moments. God also walks in the darkness, quietly and respectfully, waiting for us to reach out and grasp his hand. God may feel distant in these times but he is always near as we pray for his grace. John F. Kennedy said, “We are not here to curse the darkness, but to light the candle that can guide us thru that darkness to a safe and sane future.”

A single candle can light thousands of candles. If we choose to be a light in this dark world we can bring God’s words to others through our light of faith. We can illuminate their path to Christianity. There is always light in the midst of darkness, might be just a pinpoint, but if we are strong and steadfast in our faith, God’s grace will flood our lives with his light of love.

Let’s strive to light the candle that guides us all through the darkness to a spiritual awakening.

“All the darkness in the world can’t put out the light of one candle.” — Confucius