Light in Dark Places
Gleek is the proud owner of a pair of silver sparkle-encrusted flip flops. This morning as we drove in the car, sunlight struck the sparkles and sent little dots of light all over the back seat. Gleek was enraptured. Then the car turned and the sunlight no longer hit the sparkles. Fortunately for Gleek we turned several more times. Each time the sunlight hit those shoes, Gleek would announce it to the world in general. “Sparkles again!”
This incident would have been fairly ordinary, except that Gleek made the observation that sparkles from her shoes sent light even into the darkest places of the car. I thought about that. Then I thought how when the sunlight did not hit the shoes those dark places remained unlit. In order for a reflective surface to send light into dark places, the reflective surface must remain in the light. If, in an effort to get more light into the darkness, the reflective surface is moved closer to the dark and is no longer in light, then all the light is gone. Since the sun is constant, the only way to shine more light into the darkness is to improve the quality of the reflective surface.
I thought about all of that. I made connections between reflective surfaces and people. Then I reflected on how thoroughly the analogy can break down if technology like flashlights are introduced. I’ve decided that I like the beauty of the analogy. I like the idea that if we stand in good places we can reflect some of that goodness into places that are dark. It is a nice thought.