Night Light

It was the second time the Main Street Baptist church youth group spent the gift at Real Life farms. I remember a feeling of contentment with how well the night went. We got a few of the younger members, who had never been Boy Scout or Girl Scouts, so they would know better, to go snipe hunting. The combination of the rattling paper bags, plus the fact we were just outside the horse barn caused enough noise the game lasted far longer than it normally does. We had ended the game to gather around the fire Farmer Don had started for us to roast marshmallows and have s'mores. The combination of the cool damp night and heat of the blazing fire relaxed me.

I remember in this contented and relaxed state I talked to the girls, who often made me feel awkward in a way which seemed so normal and casual. I was almost overjoyed just to have this normal, non pressured discussion. It felt so grown up and cool. It was one of those moments when the euphoria of how blessed I was just hit me and I was able to soak in it. No High School, classroom, not in the right crowd pressures existed here.

The fire dwindled and the air cooled as we talked. So, we shifted our gazes from the embers to the stars, as they became more and more visible. Not at first, but very slowly the sky looked strange. We got away from the dwindling fire to see better, to see why it was the sky appeared to be getting lighter.

On the horizon, through the trees and just cresting over them it looked almost as if the sun was coming up again. But the color was wrong, it was a pink and purple twilight. We stared and questioned, but none of us, even the adults, knew what it was we were seeing. We watched as the effect grew. The pinks became darker reds and splashed splashed over the tree tops. They would fade in one place and intensify in another. We stood staring up at an ocean of light. The silent fireworks of God. It swirled and shimmered and streaked the sky. The only sound we made was guttural sounds of amazement. Pinks and reds and purples brought a couple spots of green and orange.

Our senses exploded with delight. Jan mentioned she thought it was the Northern lights, but no one could remember seeking them as far south as we were, Southeast Michigan. I felt small, but chosen staring up at them as they faded. Watching the radiance drip back down over the horizon, In the dark afterwards, as I tried to imagine they were coming back, hoping it would happen again, I wondered on what it was that had just happened. Ii realized, with all these people who had also experienced this for the first time, I didn't know if I would ever see the lights again.

So far, I haven't.