These are the words many of us contend with—suffer with. It perplexes me still, the force of darkness, the compulsion of it to draw us in time and time again.

It is a force that dwells in the void unquenchable, all the eager to hasten our return. It is a wild beast whose thirst cannot be satisfied. Wandering thoughts can turn you, confuse you, sink you downward again. It is an apprehending, primal, unearthly beast that makes you question your soul. Darkness can offer you a pact, only for you to find out there is no compensation for your account.

I have yet to discover this inward unfolding that contradicts the truth, in its crude, undigested filth. Oh, I have dwelt in darkness, felt the burden of it on my shoulders, unreleased, and kicked blindly at the ill, but it has never canceled my light. But it has tried.

See, it’s not a balance. Sometimes I’m a feather that is blown by the simplest wind. Sometimes my sacrifices seem to be in vain and darkness, my old friend, holds me up in mockery. Other times, darkness shifts, and holds the key to a mama’s heart, enticing children down a forgotten path.

Underneath the mountain there are shadows, but there is a deep calm under the summit when the light draws near. The hour comes forth wheeling its bands until the shadows dwindle and fall. For certain they can come crawling back. We can bar the door…and sometimes, darkness executes its vengeance and comes barreling back in.

In those moments you may say to yourself that it is hard to see, and darkness will wrap you up like an old, warm blanket because it’s familiar and easier and you are so very tired. But this is just a veil to sever your heart. To draw you away from your true self, from the one you were created to be.

Darkness would love nothing more than to sink its talons into you. To render your life useless, that is its delight. But the greatest darkness that could be are the voices never shared. The lives never lived. The visions never realized.

Darkness wants to silence you. “Fools said I you do not know, silence like a cancer grows.”

Next time when darkness seeks you may you elude its search. But even more, may your light drive the darkness back, and leave a blazing mark on the abyss.