Be a light

In the dark we are all alone.

We are entering, what for many people is the darkest time of the year.

In a purely scientific measure, between now and the Winter Solstice on December 21, the area will lose about 20 minutes of daylight. Giving historical weather patterns, the majority of daylight we will have will be gray and dulled with clouds. From a practical sense, it means that many of us will go to work in the dark and come home in the dark. Long gone are those lazy long evenings of summer where the glow on the horizon seemed to last forever.

With the increasing darkness, there is a creeping damp cold. It is the type of cold that seeps into every bone and joint serving as a constant reminder of our inherent mortality. It is as if time and nature were conspiring to wear down our bodies and spirits.

The darkness goes beyond the dance of constellations and the progression of seasons. It goes beyond regional weather patterns and polar air masses. It goes beyond the damp cold of early winter.

For many of us, the darkness is always there. It is just out of reach, and sometimes out of sight and mind. In the bright sunshine of summer, we know it is waiting. As the trees turn colors and the chill enters the air, it grows stronger. It is waiting in the shadows, creeping up on us like some children’s storybook monster.

This darkness has many names and faces. It is fed and grows strong on fear, self doubt, sorrow, loss, loneliness, and isolation. Much like the sun being obscured in the clouded-over skies, when the darkness comes it is all-consuming, all-embracing shrouding all it touches into shades of gray bleeding away color and hue.

In the dark we are all alone. Or at least we think we are. Each of us faces those same shadows to one degree or another. It is easy to discount the darkness another person may face when our personal darkness is kept at bay.

For many of us the way to keep the darkness away is to remain active and busy and never give ourselves time to lose our way in the dark. We decorate, we plan, we stay active, we work, we surround ourselves with the trappings of joy and light. We smile on the outside, placing hope in the adage of “fake it until you make it.”

We light bonfires, bang pots and pans, and shoot fireworks into the sky to drive away the darkness. We sing songs, tell stories, and lift our glasses in toast to friends absent and those near at hand.

With time, experience, luck and an occasional helping hand, most of us are able to master the darkness — at least most of the time. We recognize the signs of it creeping up on us and take the steps necessary to drive it back into the corners.

Others are not so lucky. It is easy to think you are alone in the darkness, to forget that there are others there to help guide you and to be your light in the shadows. It is easy to lose hope and to feel that you should simply stop trying.

There is an unsubtle irony that the season of light is also, for many of us, a season of darkness.

This is why we are called to be light to one another. We must be watchful and alert to the signs that others are struggling with their own personal darkness. We must be ready to lend a guiding hand to keep them from getting lost and straying too far from the path ahead.

If necessary, we must be ready with resources to guide them toward those who can help battle the darkness and to let them know that regardless of how dark things may seem, there is always the hope that a new dawn is coming.

Brian Wilson is News Editor at The Star News.