Sharing light amid darkness
The setting sun brightens a snowy afternoon in Woodstock, Vermont. (Gareth Henderson Photo)
Today in Vermont, many of us woke up to zero degrees, or less. That crushing chill makes even the smallest outdoor task seem like an eternity.
Many of us have also felt the chill of isolation and so many changes to our lives over the past 10 months during the pandemic. There is a thirst for what we used to call “normalcy”, especially when it comes to the activities of daily life. That came out as Vermont Gov. Phil Scott took questions at one of his two weekly press conferences on Friday. One reporter said he’d heard from several frustrated parents looking for answers on what was keeping the state from allowing winter sports teams to finally have games. In mid-January, winter sports were allowed to have expanded practices with limited-contact drills and team scrimmages, but as of Friday, games and competitions still remained off the table.
Scott responded that the state is monitoring the impact of the expanded practices and scrimmages, and is also watching patterns experienced in collegiate sports, which have seen some COVID-19 transmission among players. He also said community spread of the virus is prevalent in some areas, which is also a factor prompting some caution.
“I know people are anxious, I know people are frustrated, I know this is important to kids — it’s important to all of us to get back to normal,” Scott said. “But we just don’t want to make any missteps.”
All this reflects a difficult balance we’ve had to strike, in the interest of supporting the well-being of our communities. The experience is deeply shared among all of us, and, throughout these past months, we’ve all had triumphs and also obstacles in these unique times. The mix of experiences has been vast, but the light shone through the darkness has been reassuring. The spirit of helping each other has been particularly inspiring, including volunteers at food shelves, people checking on elderly neighbors, and businesses and community members helping each other, even amid their own struggles.
The kind of unselfish support of other people is still a positive factor among us, and it remains a force for the greater good. Light can appear to be overshadowed at certain points, but it can never be broken. Its nature is to shine as far and wide as possible, reaching into even the most shadowy locations — places where light may have once seemed impossible. The fact that our collective light has continued to shine in the service of our fellow human beings, shows there is still much good to be shared in the world. It’s well worth our effort to remember its impact, which has a ripple effect that can touch hearts around the globe. That much is still true.
— Gareth Henderson
