Make of Yourself A Light

In This Time of Darkness

It’s been a tough week, actually, it’s been a tough year. At times, the suffering has been insufferable. And for those of us in the northern hemisphere, we are approaching the winter solstice; the day the earth tilts her face the farthest away from the sun. It is as if the universe is conspiring in the darkness, agreeing with us that this is a dark time for our country, for our people, for the world.

But we know that the darkness doesn’t last forever. The day after the winter solstice, we have about a minute more of daylight, and each day after that, we gain increasingly more light until the summer solstice. There is something deeply comforting in that universal, archetypal dance of light and dark.

Image by NASA Goddard Space Flight Center/NASA/Goddard/SDO, Attribution

Did You Know:

There are moments of lightness and joy in the midst of this darkness. A little more than a week ago, Indiana was main stage in the country as the partisan and racially gerrymandered maps proposed by Indiana Republicans, maps that were drawn by the National Republican Redistricting Trust, without public involvement or review by any Indiana legislator, were soundly defeated in the Indiana Senate. The maps were the result of a national Republican strategy involving President Trump and Vice President JD Vance to maximize GOP congressional seats. The resounding defeat of HB 1032 was a triumph for democracy and a rebuke of Trump and Governor Braun. Both Trump and Braun have threatened various forms of retribution for the 21 GOP Senators who vote ‘nay’; many of whom had already experienced threats against their lives and the lives of their families. That’s how authoritarians govern.

And yet, as grassroots activists and many everyday Hoosiers celebrated this win (over 60% of Hoosiers were opposed to this mid-cycling scheme), just a day later there was a mass shooting on the campus of Brown University in Providence, Rhode Island, killing two students and injuring dozens more. Innocent young people gathered to study for final exams lost their lives and others critically wounded in a university classroom. We are failing our children.

The next day in Sydney, Australia, there was a mass shooting that killed 15 people at a Hanukkah event on Bondi Beach. The shooters, a father and son duo, are thought to be motivated by Islamic State inspired antisemitism. Australia is reeling from this tragedy, they have made huge accomplishments on reducing gun violence in their country for decades, so this is a huge setback for them. Our country refuses to do anything about preventing gun violence beyond sending hopes and prayers to those murdered in mass shooting incidents. The US Coast Guard attempted to revise their workplace harassment policy by reclassifying swastikas and nooses from hate symbols to being ‘possibly divisive’, but abruptly reversed course on Thursday, December 18 following an outcry from lawmakers and advocates, including Congress’ refusal to move forward with the nomination process for acting commander Adm. Kevin Lunday until that policy decision was reversed. Both Secretary of Defense Pete Hegseth and Secretary of Homeland Security Kristi Noem are systematically attempting to remove any policies that advocate for DEI considerations for promotions or workplace protections.

And then on Sunday, Rob Reiner and his wife Michele were killed in their home, allegedly by their son; a young man tormented by addictions. Rob Reiner was an accomplished screenwriter, director, actor, human rights activist and philanthropist. He and his wife were beloved by many and their deaths are a huge loss for the pro-democracy movement and an unfathomable human tragedy. While many mourned their deaths and expressed sentiments of sorrow and comfort, the American President engaged in a vile and evil rant on social media against Rob and his activism; a rant so despicable it will go down in history as the rant of a madman.

Why It Matters:

Since January 20, 2025, the day of the inauguration of Donald Trump, our constitution, the rule of law, national security, public health and safety, international peace, and any sense of daily normalcy have been unraveled by an authoritarian regime. Most of our elected officials have been complicit either in their support of the regime or their refusal to defy the harm and speak out against the assault on our nation. The normal guardrails have failed us, and it is up to us, the people, to reclaim our country and begin the long journey of healing.

What We Can Do:

The country is waking up. Seven million people showed up for the last No Kings Rally, and in most special elections and in state and municipal elections, Democrats are winning, often flipping seats previously held by the GOP. The movement is growing and cuts across race, place and party. We the people have the power to take this country back and rebuild it into a better version of its former self. We must keep growing this movement.

As we build this people powered pro-democracy movement, a part of our work is simply to be light for one another. We have been dealt this time of darkness and so let us move through the darkness in community, in connection, in human decency and in love until together we reach that place of greater light. We have to name the darkness for what it is, but our admission is not submission nor a note of hopelessness or despair. It just is what it is.

The title of this post comes from a poem by Mary Oliver, “The Buddha’s Last Instruction”. The poem tells the story of Buddha’s final teaching before passing. He told his followers not to cling to him but to be a ‘light for yourself’. In the Buddhist tradition, he was emphasizing finding the truth from within and working for your own liberation through the practices of mindfulness, virtue and resilience in this world of impermanence and decay. It was a call to action. His teaching echoes the anthem of the civil rights movements, This Little Light of Mine, the transformation of a children’s song that became a freedom song for that powerful movement of the last century.

Mary Oliver has another poem, The Use of Sorrows. It’s a sliver of wisdom about darkness.

(In my sleep I dreamed this poem)

Someone I loved once gave me

a box full of darkness.

It took me years to understand

that this, too, was a gift.

It is up to us to turn this time of darkness into a gift; a gift of light and collective transformation. We must name and stand against this willful and malicious destruction of that which is good. If we can stand together in solidarity and push against this darkness, we will be the light not only for ourselves, but for others.

Let there be Light,

Debbie & the H4D Team