'Lighten Our Darkness'

 Photo by Sixteen Miles Out on Unsplash

  At night our fear is strong. . . but in the morning, in the light, we find our courage again. (Malala Yousafzai)

We had a power cut the other night; it happens now and then in our village. There was no warning. One minute we were watching tv, the next we were plunged into total darkness. I couldn't see my hand in front of my face, and outside, our usually brightly lit street, was blackness, with not even light from the moon.

It was a shock and an annoyance, but fortunately, we had candles to light and the power cut was short-lived. It reminded me, however, how much we take our power supply for granted, until it is suddenly cut off. 

I thought about how my parents' generation coped with black-outs during World War II. I have little to complain about by comparison. 

When I was at junior school our 'house' prayer, said every week, was a 'Collect for Aid against Perils' from the Book of Common Prayer. I can recite it to this day:

Lighten our darkness, we beseech thee, O Lord; and by thy great mercy defend us from all perils and dangers of this night; for the love of thy only Son, our Saviour, Jesus Christ. Amen.

I'm sure Malala Yousafzai (click on the link above) has faced many perilous, fearful, dark nights. In 2008, the Taliban took control of her town in Swat Valley in Pakistan and a year later she was shot in the head by a masked gunman on her school bus.  Her courage in fighting for education for all girls won her the Nobel Peace Prize in 2014. 

Writing Prompts:

• Set a timer for seven minutes and write about a time when you were in total darkness. 
• Are you afraid of the dark? If not, what, if anything, are you afraid of? Write about your fears.
• Perhaps you are anxious or worried. Do things seem worse in the middle of the night? Write about those anxieties and some ways in which you can overcome them.
  
• Where does your courage come from? Write about what gives you strength. 
• Make a list of all the things you take for granted that you would struggle to be without. Now choose one of those things and write about it, expressing your gratefulness. 
  

I hope you find the prompts and links helpful.  Please share your writing or any thoughts in the comments box below.