The darkness …
My children’s eyes were bright with wonder as I told them a bedtime story about a classic struggle.
The night sky was aglow with the shining of the moon. It out-shown the stars. It was a warm night. All was good and right with the world.
A slight breeze brought a coolness to the air. Off in the distance, a cloud could be seen coming from the far north. Before very long it filled a quarter of the sky. It was a storm cloud. It grew and became darker than the night. The bright moon was unmoving. Compared now to the rolling darkness of the cloud, the moon was steadier and brighter than ever before. The storm cloud continued to grow and stretch across the sky. The moon stayed steady and unflinching.
An arm of darkness blew across the sky faster than the rest of the storm cloud. That dark tentacle reached toward the moon. It hesitated at the moon’s edge. Then, it suddenly jerked forward and covered a portion of the moon. Part of the light disappeared. The world was a darker place. The black arm slowly covered more and more. Some light could still be seen directly, while some was just a haze trying to shine through. Some of the light was completely gone. The darkness still was not strong enough. By the time the far edge of the moon was covered, the nearer edge was already slipping through the grip of darkness. Soon, it was free.
But not for long. The main part of the storm cloud now came at the light. The darkness that now covered most of the sky was attacking with full force. It practically surrounded the moon; then the full fight began. The light quickly hazed over. The blackness was strangling the light. Small flashes of brightness would shoot out, only to be covered again. The haze grew thicker. The world darkened. One last flash shot out. Then it was gone. All was gone. All was darkness.
But wait! Was that a dim glimmer? It might be. Yes, it was. There was another one. The darkness was growing and rolling harder than ever. But, it couldn’t seem to completely extinguish the light. A haze could be seen. Lines of light shot out; first only one for just a second, then more and more for a little longer each time. The haze grew brighter and brighter. The darkness was rolling and swarming for all its might. The light was getting brighter. The darkness was losing.
The moon began pushing more and more of the storm cloud away. The world became brighter. Over half the sky was clear. The cloud was leaving. It would soon be gone. The light brightened the world again. The cloud was leaving. The moon hadn’t left or been defeated. It had stayed. It had won. All was good and right with the world.
The light glinted from my children’s eyes as I sent the kids off to bed. I sat for a little while in the living room with the lights turned off. I prayed that children will always see more in my eyes, and the eyes of all parents, than just the storm clouds and the darkness.