"The people who walk in darkness have seen a great light"

The people who walk in darkness have seen a great light. These words come from Isaiah 9, verse 2 in the bible, which celebrates Christ’s coming. This verse is famous, and reminds believers that even in the darkness of today, great light comes. One night, about a week ago, I found a devotional in a book by Frederick Buechner that referred to this same verse. Buechner is an amazing author, who has a way of making his readers nod their heads up and down because his words always seem to make so much since. He reminds us that if we think of darkness as “a world where nobody can see very well” or if we think of that darkness as all of the “conflict in the world,” then we’re all indeed living in a world of darkness. I have seen darkness in my own life when I was lost and didn’t know what I was going to go next for or when I was fighting conflict which seemed to have no end. Everyone in the world sees this same darkness daily if they open a newspaper, or turn on their television and watch the news. As I had my moment of devotion, I realized that although I am having this amazing experience in Italy, there continues to be darkness all around this city, and in this country. The darkness may not be in the palazzo where I have community with amazing young woman and eat the best food ever made, but it is in the reality of discussions on WWII which we have in our Literature class. The darkness may not be on the friendly streets under us, which roar with noise of friends and lovers. However, there is darkness on the winding mountain roads where women stand and sell their bodies for sex night after night. I can’t say that I have felt darkness in the “perfect” moments I have had in Italy, looking at beautiful mountains and being completely content in my decision to come here for the semester. I can see darkness when I am lost in why I really did come or where life will lead me next. I think because we as humans are continuously questioning what is coming next in life and not living in the present we are often in the dark. When we live in the present, we are able to see the beauty of the moment and come to, in some since or another, appreciate it. I walked into this program in a great darkness, never having come to Italy and not knowing these women very well. Now that I am here I see the beautiful “great light” which has been created from my living out this experience. I have a new family, a new community, and a new appreciation for new things! It is all a beautiful experience and journey which continues daily <3