I have several solar powered hanging yard lights. One stopped working so I cleaned out the housing and replaced the rechargeable battery. No bueno. Messed with the wiring; tried another battery. Nothing. I set the “light” (oxymoron) on a bench in the yard. Would dispose of it later. A few nights later I got out of bed to use the loo, and while the other yard lights had almost faded out, the no bueno one was lit up in all its glory. I'd given up on that light, and it had come back on with a vengeance.
There is some kind of lesson here. Something to do with there being light where none is expected. When someone is suffering from a severe illness or a disease or deep depression, it can be difficult to see any possibility of light. Just blackness all around. However, sometimes those moments occur, if only briefly, where light shines through. It could be a thought, a visit from a friend, relief from pain. A realization that even at dark moments, light can find its way in.
We live in a world where despair and general negativity are often the order of the day. Media venerates the dysfunctional; that's what gets the most attention in the marketplace. Murders, natural disasters, political mayhem, celebrity breakups. All grist for the mill. The kids' lemonade stand shut down because they don't have a health department permit. Print it. Make it click bait.
How, on a personal level, to counter this darkness? Is there a manual that tells how to be forever "dancing in the light." Well, there may be books with such promises on Amazon, but the pages might a well be blank. No bueno. Nirvana can't be achieved in a ten step program. However, a way out of total darkness and toward the light is possible. It is recognizing that as humans, the cosmic "we," something bigger than ourselves must be depended on. How many happy atheists do you know? A strong spiritual base, premised on knowing a loving God, can provide comforting light in dire situations that are confusing and even incomprehensible from our limited perspectives. While we can't eliminate the darkness, we need not be destroyed by it. Slivers of light are available.
That solar light in the backyard will eventually fade. New batteries may or not make it work. However, there was that magic moment, when it gloriously started working again, when all things seemed possible.