Saturday, May 17, 2008

Lanterns and Fireflies

...And so shine your light foward, and by doing so, we give permission for others to shine their light as well...

Wouldn't it be nice if humans were like Fireflies?

Each and every single firefly carries its own light. Whenever darkness falls and silence reigns, the lone firefly will shine its light, a tiny beacon in the darkness.

But no! The firefly is not alone. Whenever one firefly sparkles, the rest of its swarm shall shine as well. And so a single fly can start off another, and a billion lights can result from one.

Wouldn't it be nice if humans were like that?

I hope they are.

Because that means we won't need the candle at the back anymore.

When hiking, the hike leader is always the one with the lantern. A powerful, wide-beam lantern that pierces through the fog of night, blazing a path through for the others to see. By the leader's light the group shall steer, and by the leader's light so can others see.

Too bad not everyone brings their own torchlight.

Of course, that is not to say nobody brings a torch. There's always at least 1 man at the back. 1 man with a small candle.

Not very large, a candle. Compared to a lantern, a candle barely shines at all.

Yet just as the lantern points ahead, so does the candle point behind. And around as well. The lantern always shines in front, blazing the trail, marking the future. The candle simply illuminates whatever's around.

What if a Boy was lost? What if a man had vanished?

By whose light can he steer?

Will the lantern turn its light from the future to search for the man? Perhaps. Perhaps all lanterns should do that someday.

But until then there's always the candle. The light at the back.

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Different people give different lights. The strong beam of the torch, the soft flame of a candle. The flashes of a camera, the glow of a lumiscent screen. Different lights, different people.

Different purposes too.

What's the use of a light that shines in the day?

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