Darkness and Light

” What has come into being in him was life, and the life was the light of all people. The light shines in the darkness, and the darkness did not overcome it.” John 1:4-5

These days find us digging into boxes in the basement. You too? Treasures are yielded as we reconnect with ancestors who left behind poetic treasures and reflections. They lived through times like these. They help us.

Here’s a story from my grandfather Eric and a poem from his wife Lydia, both written 95 years ago in 1925 when living in Chicago. Who knows, but maybe they were connected as they celebrated light in the darkness. From Eric:

I walked in the twilight on north Bernard Street in Chicago. I was going to North Park. Halfway to Foster Avenue I saw a little boy acting strangely. With his arms lifted, and his hands continually pushing away from him, he ran around in a circle. I had never seen such a game before, so I moved toward him and asked him what he was doing. “I’m pushing a away the darkness!” he said. Dear little philosopher, I had never before heard human activity put so simply. I asked the boy if he thought he would succeed. “Shucks no, I’ll have to go in and turn on the light.” So it is. Only physical light can conquer darkness and only God can conquer the deeper darkness that encompasses humankind.

Then this poem from Lydia:

Dawn lights the sky with splendor of light Chasing out swiftly all things of the night Wakened from slumbers dreams sweetly enjoyed Life would be empty, dreamless and void Dreamless and void without Thee.      

Push away the darkness, one moment, one day at a time. Light a candle, get up for sunrise, and contemplate God’s goodness in sending Jesus to us, who is the Light of the world, and who overcomes the darkness!

” What has come into being in him was life, and the life was the light of all people. The light shines in the darkness, and the darkness did not overcome it.” John 1:4-5

Peter Hawkinson