It’s been a long time since I have seen the fireflies in such profusion blinking their love light into the gloaming, but perhaps, I was just not looking.
On this warm damp night, I have wandered out to our back yard to check on the status of the moon. Before I can look up, however, I am surprised and delighted to discover a bevy of floating fireflies greeting me in the darkness.
With the cool wet grass between my toes, I slip silently into our backyard woodland hollow, where the wild things grow, and watch in wonder at hundreds of gathering fireflies: their tiny golden lights drifting and dancing all around me. Some are blinking near the earth, some are in arm’s reach, and some are high above, gliding through the treetops.
Even though light pollution, pesticides, and habitat loss have severely decimated their numbers, on this soft summer evening, there are fireflies everywhere.
The Psalmist reminds us that the darkness does not overcome the light, and in this pandemic time not only of mourning, loss, anger and bitterness, it is the golden light of fireflies, the rising silver moon, and the scattering of first star shine breaking the black night that for me brings that message home.
I hated to leave the magic of the fireflies flashing their love song in the twilight, for as I said, it has been so long since I have seen them. Surely, like we humans, they are trying to make a comeback. Maybe, like the fireflies, we can shine more love light to each other and help lead the way through this pandemic darkness.
I'm Marnie O. Mamminga and that's my perspective.
