Be a Light in the Darkness.

We can all do this. Be a light! It can be quite simple. There is plenty of darkness around. Any of us can choose to be a light, wherever we are. Anywhere! It's a choice, but not really. Being a light should not be an option. It should be essential to life. Perhaps it is, really. It's about awareness. It's about mindfulness and opportunity. All around us people are suffering. They have lost hope. They are losing their battles one by one and no longer see a pathway to survival, much less victory. Many have lost so much ground that they can no longer see hope through the darkness of their lives. They have become blind to possibility.

They may be great people who have given much to humanity, yet are suffering their own personal battles, all of which they are losing. They need light. They need hope. They need a reason to go on to find a pathway to possibility. Where will they find it? Who will light their path? It's up to all of us. This should not be a job for therapists and pastors, for counselors, and other "helpers." Caring should be a fundamental of living. Actually in ways it is. It is fundamental to really living.

Some are lost in the darkness of their own selfishness and fear. So fearful and insecure are they that all of their energy is tied up building fortifications to protect themselves from imagined threats that either don't exist, or they have no control over. These acts of self preservation actually work to the contrary of their intended purpose, blocking out the light, love, and hope, that is readily available to all of us.

Too many of us are going through life with no real sense of purpose. Perhaps floundering in jobs we hate, or fighting a losing battle to get ahead, just to cure our insatiable insecurities, and social status, to look like we are getting ahead financially. The problem is the lack of real purpose and action that brings meaning to life. I can think of no greater purpose in life than to be a light to drive away the shadows of another person's dark battlefield. I can think of no greater work than this. Wherever we are, whatever our day to day occupations, our real job, the greater work we all share, though few are aware, is to touch the lives of those around us with hope and faith and love, that those who suffer may have the tools to turn the darkness of despair, to power and possibillity.

We can all do it. No. We must all do it. Being a light is the key to happiness and the source of meaning and purpose. It is being compassionate. It's about being love, and caring for those around us, from a heart of gratitude. It is about having faith in a power greater than us that offers a reason to hope, always. It is not about the labels we put on our faith, or about the religious divisions and who is right or wrong. Those arguments are a sign of selfishness. Time wasted on those things is a distraction from the real mission, that of caring for those around us by being light.

We cannot very well be a light if our lamp is out of fuel. To care for others, we must take care of ourselves first. We must be healthy in every way. The selflessness I speak of is one in which we do not need to be preoccupied with our own needs because we are healthy and not needy or selfish. We are able to go out living at a higher level, with gratitude and abundance. It is a place that is above our own need, and where we can contribute to the greater good.

The important thing is that we live, not to light our own path, but to be a light to those around us. That is the bottom line. It is the essence of spirituality, to have compassion for others and live selflessly from a heart of gratitude. These are the keys to bringing light and hope to others. It's simply taking the time to notice, to stop what we are doing, and to offer a hearing ear and deep understanding, and perhaps, a hand up to someone who has fallen. It may even mean giving the shirt off your back. or giving up a meal so someone else can eat.

Today I have decided to be more conscious, that I may light a pathway to hope for someone else.

Be blessed and inspired today. Be a light in the darkness.

Michael Newcomb