Our ancestors must have feared the darkness of night terribly. Oh how they would have loved
daylight and those nights when the moon shone bright. Most of all they must have loved the full moon. It is all too easy to see how they came to worship the sun and the moon. But then, of course, they discovered fire. At first it was probably a natural fire; perhaps, a bush fire following a long hot summer. Those fires would have inspired awe. And keeping alight a flame from a natural fire through the dark winter must have been a very special responsibility - the sacred flame.
In time, the secret of making fire was discovered. The Greek myth tells how Prometheus defied the gods by stealing fire and giving its secret to humanity. He was sentenced to eternal torment for an act that enabled human progress and civilization. Life in the cave without fire would have been pretty constrained, if not impossible. It was the coming of light in the form of flame that led to man's greatest creativity and those cave paintings.
Of course, untamed fire could so easily consume life. The power of light and the energy of fire could be misused and weaponized. Many of the inventions and discoveries of science can be used for evil as well as good. And the weapons we claim will be used for defense become the means of offense again others. Those who wish to resist oppression become the oppressors.
For me, being a child of light means trying to see things as they are really. That isn't always easy or pleasant. And I think it means to observe them with goodwill, love and compassion. It means, as well, trying to can banish the dark and sometimes shining a light perhaps where no light has been shone before.
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