I forget which Catholic show it was that I saw, once, on EWTN that led with it, but a show used to open with a phrase that the light shines the most in darkness. If there wasn't the dark, the candle wouldn't show up as much as it does... it would just fade into the background. If you've followed the blog over the years, you will know that over the last year or so, I began to talk about the value of darkness. Even as so much of my light is love and joy and light in the current day, I still maintain that view. Indeed, it was something I talked about over the years at different times. In a book I wrote on magic years ago, I noted that in order for something to be magical, something else must be plain to have the contrast. There has been periods of struggle and darkness over the years from one thing or another. With hindsight, I can see many of them were meant to motivate me in one way or another. Just one example began in August of 2023. I wa...