The morning sun rises spreading its splendour across the rolling plains and the busy city alike.

A new day begins and with it new opportunities.  New ideas will be born; a few old ones will be set aside. New friendships will begin. New encounters that will either stamp the murals of our future with good memories or stain them with painful ones. But the dawn heralds the end of the dance…the moth dance that lasted through the night.

People come and go in our lives for a reason and a season. Some are there to comfort us in our pain while others are the bridges we need to connect to our tomorrow. Some share in our joy and make it even more colourful.

Then there are moths.

In the dark night of life a bulb without light has nothing around it. In the silence it stays and nobody notices it is there. No friend or foe. Just the darkness and the night sounds. Then it’s light goes on and the moths show up. Wonder where they hide in the darkness. They begin their dance…around and around the bulb they dance. The dust from their flapping wigs falls to the ground. No bathroom breaks, no snack breaks. Just dance. Into the night they dance on as if chasing the night away. Do they dance to impress the light or celebrate it? Is it a mockery dance or just the dance of death? Do they notice that the bulb isn’t responding? Does the bulb see the dance? Does it like It? All the bulb does is shine on. No fuss, no rush. It doesn’t stop the moth dance nor cheer it on. It just glows.

One thing is certain…the night will wear on and morning will come. The sun will rise; it’s light much greater than that of the bulb. Then the moth will either fall to its end or take a rest. Should it not dance the more now that there is enough light? Why was it dancing in the first place? Does it know that this dance could be its last? If so, why did it not quit? Was it unable to stop or was it the spell of the bulb that was too strong to overcome?

We at times encounter dark nights. Forlorn moments when all we hear is the sound of the night in our lives. The eerie silence and the echoes of yesterday’s sounds. Then a bulb goes on and the moths come. Around us they dance. In celebration and mockery alike they dance around our little light. But when morning comes the sun shines and they either drop away or take a break to await the next dark moment then the dance will begin again. Good thing they keep us company in our forlorn moments. But we must remember that moths do not last beyond the darkness. When the sun shines they will be no more. Whether they mocked us in the dark or kept us company is for us to decide. But like a bulb we should keep on being who we are meant to be. Our light should continue shining despite the moth dance around us. We should not try to cheer it on or stop it. Just shine on and let the dance be. It will end when morning comes.

The flurry of their wings and the dust that falls off marks that spot in our mural. But the story of our lives goes on.