In our house, my dear husband turns lights on, looks at or does something in the room and then leaves the room without turning the lights off.  Then I go around the house turning lights off.  The most recent electric bills urge me on with my mission to eliminate lights in empty rooms.  With this scenario in mind, this morning I was in the bathroom determined to keep the lights off.  It was just before dawn, so it was still dark both outside and inside my little bathroom.  Nevertheless, with the help of the nightlight, I was able to get ready for work.  Strange, but as I got ready, I noticed that it got easier to see things around me even though the sun still had not come up.

It struck me that it could be compared to the situation of the frog that hops in a pot of cool water and doesn’t even notice that it is heating up.  He simply falls asleep and then that’s the end of him.

We live in a dark world.  As I am of a certain age, I remember a time when things were, in some ways (not all), more simple.  Life seemed to flow at a leisurely pace.  Stores were closed on Sundays.  Church parking lots were full.  Most men were providing for their families and many women stayed home with the children.  The children played outside freely after a full day of school where they either respected their teachers or they were in trouble with their parents.  My sisters and I had time to do our homework, knit our own hats and mittens, sew our own clothing and still have time to either go outside or help our mother in the kitchen.

Time has eroded the simplicity of life.  Like the frog in the pot, our world, and our lives in it, has gotten darker without our noticing.  As our world gets darker, we get used to it.  Perhaps we rationalize it and see the changes as just a fluke, or even as progress.  However, bit by bit, even stealthily the darkness has increased.  The drug situation has killed thousands, homelessness is endemic, mass shootings more common and our police force stretched thin.  Churches are nearly empty and if a child disrespects his or her teacher, it’s the parents who call, not to make the child apologize, but to upbraid the teacher.  We live in a dark world.  Don’t let the light go out.

Matthew 5:16  Let your light so shine before men, that they may see your good works, and glorify your Father which is in heaven.

John 12:35  Walk while ye have the light, lest darkness come upon you: for he that walketh in darkness knoweth not whither he goeth.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=S9q-08aTNh8