“This little light of mine…”

That song I learned as a child came to mind the other day as I looked out my back window at the heavy rain. For three days it had been rainy and bone-chilling cold.

I was reminded of my first winter in New Orleans. The city is famous for its hot, very humid summers but winters can be hard in their own way. It was a rainy November with the temperatures hovering around 40 degrees for almost a week.

Water doesn’t exactly run into the gutters down there because the city sits at or below sea level. It depends on large municipal pumps to pull the surface water into Lake Pontchartrain. If there’s more rain than the pumps can handle, then it sits on the ground.

I slopped across the ice-cold water that covered the campus sidewalks. The color of my soaked, fashionable shoes stained my frozen toes. I summed my misery up in one sentence. “And I thought hell would be hot.”

My understanding of hell was shaped as a child. It included the devil with a pitchfork chasing children through the dark on Halloween. In my child’s mind, I never saw the devil standing in bright light by the seashore, wearing sunglasses or squinting as it looked up at the clear blue sky. The devil was always in the shadows waiting to emerge in surprising ways.

I acknowledge that there is evil on earth, but I’ve never understood it. I have seen people be cruel and I have borne the brunt of others’ misdirected ire. So many times, it seems when people lash out it is at something that they don’t want to admit about themselves.

Personally, there is still a mystery in my life anchored in the actions of a certain church leader who came after not just me but others in a nonsensical way that reminds me of certain world leaders.

Do I say that person is evil? No. That’s not my place. I can judge that person’s actions, but no one but God can judge a heart.

By my desk at the hospital where I worked, I kept a page from an old calendar that said, “Look for the good in others and tell them what you see.” Some might call that a platitude, but it’s worked pretty well for me.

And when I say my prayers at night, I always include one for world peace. More than some might consider that a platitude, especially in this day and age. I disagree.

If we give up hoping for something better, what kind of life is that? If what we have now is all there is, where is life’s joy? If we think that evil will win, then why bother?

I believe in goodness and light. Even at one of the darkest moments in history, my deepest conviction is that light will win. I refuse to give up. My experience has shown me that even the most random hurtful events in my life only win if I let them.

When I say my prayer for peace each night, I imagine the world covered with a thick net similar to the rope nets of a fisherman. The cords of my net are brilliant strings of light like Christmas lights on a tree. The lights sparkle and light the way to a better life.

Yes. These days are challenging, but I ask myself and I ask you, “What can we do to help?” We need to look at ourselves and decide what matters most to us. Then ask another question, “What actions will we commit to?”

For me it starts with prayer and asking for wisdom and strength.

“Please give me strength to do my part however big or little that might be.

Please give me strength to hold my corner of the net of light.”

My light?

“…I’m gonna let it shine.”