BRIGHTER LIGHTS

     I realized again this afternoon that there are always brighter lights shining somewhere close by.  I was standing in the library under what seemed like satisfactory ceiling lights, when I noticed the absolutely dazzling sunshine out on the patio. Compared to the light in the library, the sunshine outside was spectacular, and I was surprised that I hadn’t noticed it before. I’d been noticing student behaviors and misbehaviors, as I’m supposed to when I’m supervising a study hall, but I hadn’t noticed the extraordinary light just outside the doors. It had been there all along, for me and for all us, but I had not been fortunate enough to turn and see it. It made me think, again, of how many magnificent lights in my life must lie just out of my vision – just around a corner or outside a door or somewhere down in my mind.  There is something spectacular shining for me at every moment, but I must make myself stop rushing and fussing, and simply turn and see it.  In the midst of sorrow and confusion, it’s still there – this brightest of lights that waits for all of us. In the darkest times, it shines where we can easily see it and take pleasure in it, but it takes stopping and seeing, as I was lucky enough to do today in the library.