All the World's A Light-Bright

Did you ever have a Light-Bright as a kid? You know that little black screen with a million holes backlit by one bright light bulb.

Everything looked much cooler on a Light-Bright. You could be the worst artist in the world, crafting nothing more than a straight line and still when the lights went off, you were mesmerized by your colorful creation.

I think Christmas makes the entire world look like a Light-Bright creation and I love it! Lights on the houses and on the Christmas Trees.  Tiny lights woven in banisters and garland. It’s breathtaking!

 I’ve been thinking about what all this light represents and how it drowns out the darkness and unites us in common cause, if only for a season.

These little strands of lights that we pull from boxes and hang on rain gutters and wrap around trees remind us that even though we all live different lives, we’re not so different after all.

Light breaks through the darkness. It represents transparency and lets us see things as they are.  Crime hides in the darkest of corners, light deters the darker side of humanity.  For many people Christmas lights reminds us that on Christmas morning, we will all sit down with people we love and give. This is the day that we move as one, loving and being loved and basking in the light of the season.

For people who have religious ties to the holiday, the light represents so much more.

I love the holidays for all these reasons.

Soon the lights will disappear and our neighborhoods will feel uncomfortably dim for a while. We’ll go back to our lives, carving our different paths, facing our different problems.  I’m always a little sad when that happens.  Luckily, next year, just after Thanksgiving, the lights will return.

I hope your holiday is filled with good things, light and love and sense of belonging to a human family that is still fundamentally good.   I love being an author and I love being if nothing else a small part of your holiday season.

Merry Christmas friends!