A Thousand Tiny Awakenings
My son, Jacob, and I recently had an opportunity to spend the evening together, just the two of us, so we ventured to the cinema to catch a flick. Upon our return home, I began the mundane routine of gathering my keys from my purse and fiddling around in the dark to find the house key, because I just can’t ever seem to remember to turn the porch light on when we leave. 🤦🏻♀️
Suddenly Jacob gasped and exclaimed, “Mom! Look at all those fireflies!” I stopped my rummaging and looked out into the pasture behind our house. It took but a second to catch that first twinkle in the distance…. then another and another and another, until it seemed the entire field was animated with tiny embers of sparkling light. Hundreds of lightening bugs illuminated the landscape evoking a fantasy world that very likely could have been a fairy realm or a secret hidden grove of quiet solitude waiting just for Jacob and me to find it. We watched in silence for several minutes in awe of this newfound dimension of our homestead. I had the realization that it had been years upon years since I’d even thought of a lightening bug! Had I grown so tired and weary that I no longer had the energy to stay awake for this magic show?! And free of charge, nonetheless! 💫🪐
Since then, I have sat on our side porch many a night and pondered the otherworldly presence that the fireflies seem to awaken. As I’ve traveled new places this summer, I have been more mindful of staying up to watch the fireflies. How do they play in other parts of the world? What wonder and enchantment do they bring to the natural space around them? A visit in the hills of Arkansas found my husband and I in a cabin atop a mountain overlooking the White River. At night I stood on the porch balcony captivated by the thousands of lightening bugs blinking hundreds of feet below, atop the trees, along the riverbed, and off into the horizon. It was as if I was perched above the Earth, stargazing down instead of up! A trip to Eureaka Springs with my mother uncovered these soft sparks of light floating between the tall pines around a campfire. A sweet couple played harmonica and guitar and sang personally written love songs for a small crowd nestled in the woods of the cabins where we stayed. Those soft little guiding lights seemed to connect all of us into a sacred space, where we were no longer strangers in a strange land, but part of one pure consciousness. 💛
My inner child urged me to tip toe up to a few of the tiny lights and cradle them in my hands. For a moment, I wanted to look closer, to discover the magic hidden within their glow. As they flickered against my palms, I felt a small rush of fascination—like holding a secret of the forest. I opened my hands and watched them drift back into the night air, carrying their mystery with them. Where do they go during the day, when the greater light rules the sky? This was not a new exploration, but an adventure from my childhood, come to visit again! I recalled many summer evenings staying at my grandparents in Pleasant Grove, who lived with a creek out their back door. There, my cousins and I would find solace for hours, chasing these creatures that kept us giggling and telling secrets. We thought the nights would last forever. 🌙
I have been reminded of a past blog of mine entitled Does God Like Glitter? and compared the bioluminescence to that of what I discovered in the dew of the grass. Little mystical orbs of light, there all along, waiting softly to be noticed. A reminder that beneath the surface of things flows the same pure consciousness that links the Creator with creation.
My Yah enchants your life journey with light. Don’t miss it. “The light shines in the darkness, and the darkness has not overcome it.” – John 1:5
Special thank you to Jacob, for awakening a part of my psyche I didn’t know I had forgotten, and for opening my eyes to the thousand tiny lights that were there all along. ✨
