Horror stories spend considerable time in the dark. Why dark? Because you can’t see around you. Sounds cease to be familiar due to your imagination. You can be surprised. Something you didn’t see can grab you or attack. You can mistake friends for enemies. Shapes seem distorted. Information is sketchy. You were afraid as a small child. You remember the feeling.
These days people are overwhelmed with dangers, both manmade and natural. From medical woes to worldwide disasters, we’re inundated daily with warnings and horrific images. Meanwhile, artificial darkness is constantly being manufactured to swirl around us. We’re told we chose the wrong people to believe. Money buys shining illusions. Mud flies through the air to stick on whoever challenges the powers. We’re terrified we’ll be branded the stupid ones—cheering for losers. We pretend we’re no longer frightened by 9-11 and the country’s inability to defend us without allies. We no longer know who to trust. Labels are meaningless. Good times feel far away. Stress makes us sick.
The time has come for us to stop blindly accepting leaders we thought we could depend on because they’re presented as worthy—without authentic evidence that they are. It’s time for us to discover and exercise our own instincts, added to every bit of information we can find. Which deciders—national or local– make you feel uncomfortable? Who would you trust to be alone with your children out of sight? What news makes your skin crawl? The word “motivation” takes a high throne. Why is a vital question. The details behind the scene are important. Why is such-and-such being done and why now? Who benefits? Not who is supposed to pay, but who finally does take the financial hit? What promises were given and then forgotten?
Yes, it’s dark out there. There are monsters and demons and haters in the dark. Who did you yearn to come to you when you were small and nervous in the night? People who had proven they would defend you. But the responsibility shifts. Today, we adults young and old are called to step up to be the light. It isn’t woo-woo. It’s humanity at its best.
It means you preserve behaviors you’ve loved in neighbors, family, and friends. You preserve and spread kindness that isn’t merely a polite smile. You preserve compassion because you loved when someone gave it to you. You look past surfaces to the souls beneath. You don’t demand others be better people than you are, yourself. We’re all a work in progress. You love the one you see in the mirror, not for being without blemishes, but for daring to be a bright influence. You give from the goodness inside you in whatever ways you can to preserve light even when all about you are giving up and modeling the same hatred and lies they despise. When you do, you’ll notice others brightening. Caring is contagious. It’s what we’re designed to share. Community extends life.
You don’t need a cape, just a flashlight.
