“It is better to light a candle than curse the darkness.”

Eleanor Roosevelt

Good morning, friends!  I hope you are off to a great start this Monday morning.  Regardless, there remains many hours today to make it great, so get to it!  Now, let’s get to it!

Perhaps you are a time and date geek like I am (but I seriously doubt not!) and you are fully aware that this week is the autumnal equinox, otherwise known as the first day of fall.  “Equinox” comes from the Latin words aequus, meaning “equal” and nox, meaning “night”.  In other words, the times between sunrise and sunset are equal, generally.  It’s not true everywhere; earth and time factors bend the reality, but basically the two equinox days of the year (spring is the other one) are the pivot points of day and night, light and dark.  This year’s autumnal equinox is September 22 and from that day darkness will reign longer each day until March 21 next year when the trend pivots again back towards the reign of light.

Enough geekness.  Let’s think about the darkness and light in your life.  Darkness and light in life can easily be expressed in terms of emotions and/or feelings.  What are the emotions/feelings of darkness?  Pain, anger, loss, desperation, sadness, rejection, hurt, etc.  What are those of light?  Joy, hope, peace, love, celebration, anticipation, acceptance, inclusion, etc.  Sadly these worlds are not exclusive; we all frequently move between them.  The challenge thus becomes how to manage the days of darkness we experience.

Darkness envelopes us when a loved one dies, or when we experience an unexpected negative life change, or when a relationship begins to trend apart or actually break.  In hundreds of large and small ways the darkness of life confronts us.  What we need are the candles of light: a positive relationship, a hopeful endeavor, requited love, small achievements, a new connection.  With enough small candles aglow we can pivot the reign of light again in our very own lives.

·How do you manage the dark days/times/seasons in your life?

·Which experience reigns today for you?

·What candles can you keep lit, or newly light, to maintain the reign of light?

I hope you can take encouragement from the thought today, to see the many small ways you can keep the positive light in your life.  Be blessed; I have great faith in you!  Have a wonderful week.

John 8:12