… we sat in darkness for so long, it hurt our eyes, hurt our bodies, psychologically maimed us, it stunted our growth. We did all we knew to switch on the light, we tapped, pressed, pulled, pushed, slided, waved, courted, shouted, sang, smiled, laughed but the light just will not come on. We prayed, interceeded, fasted, confessed, professed, claimed, meditated, asserted but nothing happened. We cried, moaned, wrote, complained, became sad, progressed to depression, the light did not bulge. We had anxiety, we suffered insomnia, we gained weight, lost weight, we were lonely, alone, unloved, untouched, uncontacted, alienated, ignored, avoided, but yet the light did not shine. We regressed, lost our glow, our sheen, we became dull, dim, lacklustre, yet no light. We tried and tried, no stone was left unturned, every advice in the book was implemented but light did not show up. We went for counselling, got advisers, read all the ‘how to’ manuals, got all the top books on getting the light to shine, but nothing happened.
We decided that this was a dark place, it has no light, no hope, no kindness, no softness, no life, no humanity. It had no heart, no soul, just pain and harshness. Cold as a frozen Turkey, hard as hell, impenetrable and unyielding, more hostile than the Sahara desert, never seen rain of joy and never will. Thriving in it’s meanness with no intention of relenting on its grip of suffocation, a dead place with the illusion of life, no true life can survive the hostility of this place, belonging to the dead and dying.
We packed our bags, our spirits crushed without redemption. We must breath, we must live, we must be in a place where the water flows, where it is fluid, where the light shines and there is life. We must recuperate, we must recover, we must flourish again, we need nourishment, we need joy, we need life, we need light! As we turn to leave, we saw a glimpse, it was so slight we paid no attention. In the dark place, there has never been light, our eyes must be deceiving us! It must have gotten accustomed to the darkness and started seeing things, drawing patterns. It must be a fluke, a mirage! We moved one more step and saw another tiny spark, a minute flame, a flicker, we stopped and behold, in the dark and frozen place, a thawing has began, the sun was rising, the light has began to shine! We stopped in our track, how would we have known that the light could reach into the depth of hell? They that sat in darkness have seen a great light. Our hearts leaped and rejoiced. We held hands and danced, tears of joy flowing down our faces. We were as them that dream. We are grateful for the steadfast hand that kept us still during the darkest of nights, the unquenchable light that shines in the very core of our being that no work of darkness can reach.
We are the light, irrespective of the depth and blackness of the darkness and night, the light shines and the darkness can not prevail, never!
We are the light in an evil and perverse generation. We do not seek to leave the darknesss to persist, we steadfastly shine our light until the fire catches, we are the hope of our generation.
The light shone! It caught! Peace and joy reigned!
Beautiful Ivory 