180. Closet Meditation
—
I sat within
the empty closet
to feel the dark
—
dense
black
my eyes strained
to see
—
the space closed in
as the darkness grew
—
I struck one match
lit one candle
and the closet
changed
—
suddenly I knew
what Bethlehem
meant to the
world
—
© Copyright 2012 Ann Freeman Price
—
I actually did this. I went into a closet (an empty one without bunches of clothes hanging that would make lighting a candle a real fire hazard). But I wanted the blackness of the dark. And I sat in that darkness.
And then in that deep darkness, I lit a match. It brightened the space, and then when I used the match to light a candle with it, I could see details in the small closet. I sat, holding the still burning taper, experiencing the difference between total darkness and the light of one candle.
Desmond Tutu from South Africa promised us all that goodness is stronger than evil and that light is stronger than darkness. When the Bethlehem baby grew up, He promised the same thing.
