A Story for the Season of Light

During the winter months, especially December, many religions focus on light:

The light of the Divali lamps to welcome the goddess Lakshmi into the homes of Hindus

The candles and sweets of Santa Lucia Day in Sweden

Waiting for Jesus, the light of the world, to be born again in the hearts of Christians











The light of the Hannukah Menorah
in the homes of Jews








Observing Winter Solstice and waiting for the light of the sun to return to the earth in the Pagan tradition

Lighting the Kwanzaa Kinara in the African American tradition












A good friend, Terri Lynn Brewer, has written a children's story about another kind of light.
I have copied it below, with her permission.
May your days and nights be merry and bright during this season of light.




"When we were kids, Mom and Dad would always tells us, "We love you."   We would get kisses and hugs and even get cuddles in their arms.

Though we may not be able to exactly define the word love, we do know what it feels like:
like warmth, like when we hold our favorite blanket, teddy bear, doll, or our favorite dinosaur.

One day when I was a little girl, I broke the rules.
That's right, I disobeyed. I was playing rough with four of my friends in the house- the forbidden play zone- and I broke a lamp.
Oh BOY, was I in trouble.
I wouldn't get love anymore unless I could get out of this mess. I wasn't sure how but I knew I'd do anything to make sure my parents would still love me- that I could still get to feel those warm cuddles.

First, I needed to clean up the broken lamp, and I did.
Then, later, even though they may have not noticed the lamp for a while, I decided to tell my Mom and Dad that I broke the lamp- that I broke the rules.

My Mom and Dad sat and listened very closely.
When I was done I thought for sure, no, I KNEW, they would tell me that I was bad.
But neither of them said anything for a moment. Oh boy, this was going to be much worse than I had expected.
I knew they didn't love me anymore, but then, what??...they both reached out and pulled me close, saying,
"We all break lamps at some time in our lives. We are so happy that you did not get cut. Thank you for cleaning up the broken glass and telling us the truth."
Then they both drew me near and told me they loved me.

And do you know what I learned? What I know now that I didn't know before?
Now I know that love can even come from broken lamps."