Treasures in the Darkness

Lent can be described as a season of remembrance and willing participation in an act of surrender and sacrifice in unity with the global Church and the Spirit of our Lord Jesus Christ. I have participated in this time of the church calendar for many years, abstaining from some substance, such as caffeine, sugar, carbs, or any other self-benefiting pseudo-diet plans to help kick start other goals. Although the above mentioned items are popular and valid for most individuals as a real act of sacrifice, for my past self-abusive behavior they were merely a means to an end. The end manifested itself in a perception of spiritual and physical maturity to those whom would care to judge those qualities. In those times, I arrogantly believed that many persons would cast judgments and find my actions favorable and upright. Yet those actions were motivated for purposes of survival, not for spiritual growth. When one grows up in a world of constant scrutiny and immediate resul...

What has happened? I remember the candles of strange hues and comforting warmth surrounding me, the broken beam of the structure damaged by the shaking and the note, which I still clutched in my hand. The room was filled with a bright light coming from another candle, leaving me staring at three candles, all with slightly different hues and intensity. The new candle sparkled as the flame continued to rise and fall in flashes of light. The light reminded me of something, unsure of the context of which I had seen this variation of grey. Searching my memories for a moment, I had no recollection of any such hue in my past, only memories of my cell and slow shifting variations of darkness. I peer over to the structure, still damaged and letting in the ray of light, although the brightness was muted by the brightness of the third candle, filling most of the cavern with light. There were a few crevasses that the light now revealed more about the rocks around me. In scanning the n...