New Year’s Eve is weeks past, but the images from the fireworks show in Seattle remain in my mind. It was a beautiful clear night, unusual for this time of year, and as usual the celebration in Seattle was at the Space Needle. There is no ball drop as there is in Time Square, but rather a huge display of fireworks being launched from the top of the “Needle” and all up and down the stem of this iconic building. We always look forward to watching this spectacular display every year (albeit from the comfort of our living room). But this year was somewhat different. This year, the air was so still that the smoke from the fireworks lingered and built up so that all that could be seen was a thick cloud of smoke enveloping the Space Needle and all above and around it.
At first we were dismayed and disappointed. There was a lot going on, but it was all completely obscured by this cloud of gray smoke. As it went on, though, our family found it to be hilarious and then rather wonderful. Out of the eye of this dark smoky cloud came surprises – flashes of sparkles, colors, golden streams out of the top, tails out of the bottom at the foot of the Needle.
I found it wonderfully emblematic of this point in time. Here we are at a time in our world when there seems to be disaster around every corner. War and famine, ecological destruction and uncertainty, neighbors enacting violence – it seems that any order or peaceful coexistence is at risk of disintegrating before our eyes – a cloud of darkness where it takes effort to find light.
But as we watched the fireworks hidden behind the cloud, we could see flickers of a great deal of bright light activity. Every now and then bright sparkles flew above the cloud or snuck out beneath, reminding us that there was splendor hidden in the darkness. Our daughter declared that this was her favorite fireworks display ever. While we couldn’t appreciate the artistry that had gone into the show (and I felt so sorry for the fire artists whose work was so hidden) we could cheer for every sparkle that emerged from the gloom.
This imagery has lingered for me, for it is a reminder that in the midst of the darkness we may feel is enveloping our world, the light, though hidden, is very active underneath it all, with flashes of bright reminders that the light and joy that is our birthright remains as bedrock and will emerge more visibly as the cloud begins to disperse.
These are trying times, and our hearts may be full of grief for those who are suffering. In such times, it is important to look for and celebrate those bright, shining sparks of bright light we each bring forth in our world that illuminate the cloud.