Searching

           There was the world. The world was dark and strange. The people in it were also dark and strange. They ran together like a current. Floating from one idea to the next, from one theory to another. Never staying in one place, on one thought. Always moving. Always searching. Searching. Never finding. Desperately, frantically, hysterically searching.

            Searching, yes, but for what? Truth? No, they did not want truth. They made their own truths. Peace? No, they knew no such thing. Perfection? Perhaps, but doubtful. Acceptance? Unlikely. Such an idea is too primitive. What, then, were they searching for? A question unanswered. No matter who you asked, the answer would always be different. No one was searching for the same thing.

            They all searched. Searched to satisfy their ever-changing, ever-growing desires. Searched to find something, yet not knowing what exactly they were looking for. How peculiar. How curious. How frustrating. Horribly, agonizingly frustrating. To look and never find.

            The world was dark and strange. The people in it were also dark and strange. Most people. Not all. In a dark world, there were specks of light. Few, yes, but bright specks of light. These lights were different. Yes, very different. They did not search. No, never searched.

            How puzzling, for the dark. Imagine knowing only black and white. Living in a world of no color, ever. Never truly seeing brilliance. No yellows or pinks or greens. Only the flat, dull white and obscure, disconsolate black. Now imagine seeing a flower. Not just any flower. A yellow flower: yellow with green leaves and a stem. Different from every other flower you’ve seen. How puzzling. Would you not be perplexed? Bewildered and bemused? Color. Bright color. For the first time, ever.

            Yes, this is what the dark sees in the light. Confused, but enticed. Skeptical, but captivated. The light is different. The light does not search. Why?

            The dark does not understand, and the dark often fears, rejects, and eradicates that which it does not understand. But these lights, these radiant, dazzling specks of light, cannot be snuffed out. These lights shine. These lights are different. They do not search. They illuminate. How disturbing for the dark.

             "You are the light of the world. A town built on a hill cannot be hidden. Neither do people light a lamp and put it under a bowl. Instead they put it on its stand, and it gives light to everyone in the house. In the same way, let your light shine before others, that they may see your good deeds and glorify your Father in heaven." - Matthew 5:14-16 NIV