In the midst of darkness, we wait for the light

Just one small change in the wording of that sentence illuminates the power of language to shift perspective. 
    

And, let’s be honest, we could all use a little more positivity and a reminder to keep everything in perspective.
    

Seeing that message reminded me of a student in one of my classes this semester. I teach on Tuesdays and Thursdays, and for most of the semester it seemed that there was always a torrential downpour occurring just before and during my class. It became a running joke that we would know when class was over because the rain would stop almost as if on cue. 
  

  After weeks of such awful weather, it was downright depressing. But not for my student. “It’s a beautiful day,” she’d say as she listed the things that she was grateful for before asking me how my day was going. I commented once on her positivity, and she responded with a simple shrug: “It’s all a matter of perspective, Dr. Witcher.”

    

She only said it once, sometime at the start of the semester, but it stuck with me. Because she was right. Life – each day – is what we make of it.
    

We’ll be spending more and more time in our homes as we are asked to adapt our lives (in innovative ways) to an unusual situation. But my student’s response keeps repeating in my head as similar messages recur in other aspects of my life.
    

I watched my brother celebrate Mass at his parish via live-streaming on YouTube. It was the first time I’d “seen” him since Thanksgiving. Like many, we don’t know when we’ll see family members again, but being able to see and watch him virtually was, in some ways, a comfort. 
    

Even more comforting, however, was his message of light in the darkness. As Catholics, we understand all too well that God speaks to us and pours forth his love and mercy from the depths of darkness. 
    

As we near the Easter Triduum, we will have visual reminders of this truth: The darkness of Good Friday just before the celebratory light of the Easter Vigil on Holy Saturday. The world is undergoing a time of great darkness, a time of suffering, a time of tribulation.
    

In these moments, we must turn to our faith to keep hold of our perspective. In the face of the unknown – as we pursue a trajectory with no certain outcome in an attempt to stall the spread of COVID-19 – we find comfort in the fact that God will not abandon his faithful. It is, then, fitting that we are given the message of hope in the Easter Resurrection.
    

Our faith prepares us to celebrate rebirth. In the midst of darkness, we are taught to search for the light. What greater light is there than using this time to reconsider and reflect on the path our lives have taken, to reflect on what is essential and what we can do without, to redefine and reorient ourselves around a life of faith and trust in God?
    

Dr. Heather Bozant Witcher can be reached at [email protected].