Nothing can live long in the dark. On occasion, scientists discover some ghostly insect in a dark cave, or some pale fish in the depths of the ocean, but those are the exceptions. They have a certain claim to fame, but no other creature envies them.
No butterfly ever wishes it was a colorless, blind centipede. No dolphin ever wishes it was a translucent blob with pale zombie eyes.
As far as we know butterflies and dolphins don’t wish for anything. But we humans do. And part of our great complexity is that while we are created to draw our life from the light of God, we often envy those who dwell in the dark. Without light. Without love. Without anything we might call life. Only phantoms of the beauty that the light of day creates.
The good news is that even a little light goes a long way. Light shines in the darkness, and darkness does not overcome it.
A single candle can help a shin avoid the coffee table. A flashlight in a dark wood can keep a traveler on the path. And even just a flicker of God’s light into a cavernous soul can feel like being born all over again into a strangely new and sunlit world.
Darkness never wins. Light does. Death will not have the final word. Life will.