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Shining in the Darkness

by Joanne Wiklund

A late text from my Number One Grandson alerted me last week to the Lunar Eclipse which started at 11 p.m. I told him I couldn’t watch, since I really needed my sleep. I rarely sleep well when there’s a full moon. On my way to bed, I looked out and saw the eclipse starting. I went to bed.

I saw film on the news the next day of the eclipse. I wondered what the original residents of North America thought when the moon went into an eclipse. It had to be spooky. The next night I went to bed and woke a few hours later. I didn’t even have to turn on a light. I got up and wandered through the whole house and it was well lit. There was a square of light on the living room floor. The front yard had shadows all over it. The neighbors tall trees were claiming space on our ground out there.

The light from the now full moon was astounding. On my way back to bed, I pulled the room darkening curtains, only to find minutes later I hadn’t gotten the curtains all the way shut. A full moon found the space between the two curtains. The moon was literally shining on my bed and in my face. Did I get back up and close it? Not a chance.

Light is so valuable. The Bible is full of references to light. We speak of people who come into a room and just “Light it up.” Personality, humor, friendliness all add to their light. People respond to it and their light goes through the attitudes of the people there. That inner light can sometimes be seen in the eyes of people who have so much fun and love to share. When we lose them it’s really tough.

Luke 11:34 “The light of the body is the eye:  therefore when thine eye is single, thy whole body also is full of light; but when thine eye is evil, thy body is also full of darkness.”

John 8:12 “Then spake Jesus again unto them, saying, ‘I am the light of the world: he that followeth me shall not walk in darkness, but shall have the light of life.”

Rev. 21:23 “And the city had no need of the sun, neither of the moon, to shine in it, for the glory of God did lighten it, and the Lamb is the light thereof.”