The Light at the End

We were driving home from Virginia Beach on Easter Saturday; we entered the tunnel to leave the peninsula when I looked up and saw the artificial lighting within the tunnel with the promise of the daylight’s lighting at the end of the tunnel. When we entered the tunnel, we experienced gale force winds and rain. I would love to say that when we emerged from the tunnel we experienced perfect sunlight, no rain, and no gale force winds; but alas, we did not. It still rained and the wind tried to blow us into the next lane which seemed forever.

This is so much like life; we expect more than we get. Or so it seems! Forrest Gump always says, “Life is like a box of chocolates, you never know what you’re going to get!” Until you bite into it and find out. We never know what life has in store for us, because we expect so much, but never receive all that we expect. That is because we are taught from birth to reach for the stars. And that is exactly what I have done, and many times been disappointed. Until. . .

I awoke one day to reality. Reality is nothing manmade; true reality comes from God. We cannot go looking for it; it is something that God puts inside of us to connect to all that is holy, all that is True, all that is filled with the Light of God, the Light of Love.

Years ago, I became like the Samaritan leper who turned around and thanked Jesus for healing him. As many of my readers know, I have been blessed by a full life, a fruitful life, a sharing life. But, it has also been a life filled with physical pain – 24/7 pain for the past 48 years. However, like the Samaritan, I thank God every morning and every night for the wonderful life I have lived, being blessed by the companionship of a very loving wife for the past 56 years, two loving children, and three raucous grandchildren.

After serving my parents for 25 years in the family retail business, God led me into teaching where I taught in a high school for 15 years and then in college for another 10. This was a confusing life; for the first 25 years I was very unhappy, but when after years of disappointment, God told me that I was serving my parents in their later life. When they passed, God led me into teaching; I was so happy and comfortable, that I say that for the years I taught, I never worked; it was a time of love, a time of sharing the knowledge God gave me.

Now that I am no longer employed in my physical world, I meditate, I pray, and I write. I rise each morning and thank God for another day with my loving wife, knowing that the rest of my extended family are safe. Then, when I retire for the day, I thank God for the blessing He has given me.

This is a simple thing; being the Samaritan that turns around and thanks Jesus is something we rarely do. So, now, as I drive through the tunnel, lit by manmade light, I see at the end of the tunnel a light so bright it can be blinding to us mere mortals, nevertheless, it is a beautiful and blessing light.