Boko Haram, Colorado, Syria, Damascus…Where is the Light of the World?

By Chris Ihidero

As I’m sure you have heard by now, a 24 year old man walked into a cinema in Colorado a couple of days ago at the screening of the latest Batman movie and opened fire on the unfortunate members of the audience, who at first thought he was a part of the night’s entertainment. By the time his guns went silent, 71 people had been shot, 12 of them fatally, and another 13 remain in critical condition in hospitals. We’ll probably never know why he snapped and I do not wish to be drawn into America’s gun-control debates, but how do we begin to comfort the families that have lost loved ones; how do we begin to make sense of this needless horror?

A couple of days ago, a tourist bus was blown up in Damascus, killing Israeli tourists. I fully expect Israel to retaliate by killing innocent people. President Assad’s guns continue to roar in Syria and lives continue to be wasted. The UN is impotent and the rest of the world looks on helplessly. I’m writing this piece on a Saturday. For many citizens of my country, tomorrow, a Sunday has become synonymous with death and destruction. Boko Haram continues to unleash previously unimaginable terror on the psyche of this nation, and no one seems to have a clue about what to do.

Everywhere you look, there seems to be a reason to ask: where is the light of the world amidst all this darkness?

I was musing over a similar question 4 years ago when I wrote the article below…it resonates still.

My rapidly degenerating mind has been wandering towards light lately. No, I am not referring to electricity. I have long given up on social services like PHCN and consequently expect the worst every time. I am talking about a different kind of light here.

Every time I hear someone talk about the darkness and evil that permeates the atmosphere, I feel somewhat uneasy, never able to understand what form, shape or style this perceived evil displays. I hear people say they are not of this world because this world is ruled by the king of darkness. I am amused by religious negations of the world and the quickened anticipation of heaven, in one form or the other. Hereafter is the desire, but here and now; how we spend it and what we do with it seems inconsequential.

In days past, I simply put these attitudes down to puritanical pretences and spiritual indigestion that seek to codify things that are actually quite simple. I no longer think that is the case, as daily experiences keep reinforcing a long-held truism that “We seek in others that which we fail to face alone.”

I have often asked: what is darkness? What is the representative image of darkness? If light can be represented by the sun rays, moonlight, light bulbs, beams and the likes, what represents darkness? Nothing?

Can we, therefore, say that darkness is simply the absence of light? That evil is not a construct by itself but only made significant by the absence of good?  So if light is in abundance, what happens to darkness? If we all dealt with the little devils running round our hearts, what would happen to evil in the world?

I have always thought about this scenario: Imagine a stadium with all the lights turned off at night. It is absolutely dark. Imagine standing in the centre circle, holding a lit candle. Imagine the stadium filled to capacity. Will everyone else sitting in the dark be able to see your light or not? Your solitary light will, to an extent, defeat the permeating darkness. Now imagine what would happen if everyone in the stadium lights his/her candle and joins their light to yours; what would we have? LIGHT!

Even if they lit their candles with yours, your light cannot be diminished.

This is how I see the world, and I’ll be the first to admit that I may be very wrong. Nonetheless, this is my reality.

I humbly ask that you add your light to mine; we already share a common soul as God’s children. True light welcomes other lights in brotherhood, with no fear of one light extinguishing another.

Whatever your religious, spiritual or mystical affiliation might be; beneath all these layers, when all coverings are stripped, we share a humanity that is undeniable.

I long to see a better world, I believe it is possible.

May the souls of the departed find eternal piece in God’s abundant bosom, Amen.

Peace Profound