In Darkness I Walk Looking for Light

     I was listening to a song today and one line really hit home for me. "Sometimes it may seem dark, but the absence of the light is a necessary part."
    When you are walking in darkness you cannot see anything at first. Usually your eyes will adjust to the darkness and you can see some things but not clearly. My life two years ago was like that, I was walking in darkness. It's funny, but it reminds me of Plato's Allegory of The Cave. He contended that the people were living in darkness and all they could see were the shadows. When they were finally brought into the light, it was too painful for them to look.
   That is what my life was, when I finally emerged from the darkness of my own apathy it was too painful to bear. But the good thing is when you get through the darkness and emerge into the light you adjust to the light, even though it may be difficult at first.
    You learn to appreciate things. Things you never knew existed become a wonder, like being loved for just who you are. I read a story once called Follow The River. It is the story of Mary Ingles, she was twenty-three, happily married, and pregnant with her third child when Shawnee Indians invaded her peaceful Virginia settlement in 1755 and kidnapped her, leaving behind a bloody massacre. For months, they held her captive. But nothing imprisoned her spirit.With the rushing Ohio River as her guide. Mary Ingles walked one thousand miles through an untamed wilderness no white woman had ever seen to return to her husband. The book says Mary was never the same when she finally made it back home. She cried a lot, she never looked at her life the same way again, she appreciated everything about her life. 
     Sometimes the darkness is a necessary part, it helps you appreciate the light. I think old Plato might have had a point in what he said. Maybe he was in darkness once too and he knew there was a difference when he emerged into the light.