the electrician rekindled my joy

As I had decided to rest (the hardest thing to do when you wear two professional hats like me) I was in my office working when suddenly the light went out, the power was cut and I found myself in the dark. Surprised I went to the entrance hall to inquire about it with the electrician sent very early that morning to work on my circuits. He informed me in the most calm manner in the world that I would be without electricity, therefore lighting for at least two hours while he worked on the system, it was either that or he would be electrocuted. He himself was armed with a torch. Having no intention of causing the sudden death of this kind gentleman, and seeing that it was only eight o'clock in the morning and that outside it was dark and even worse it was freezing cold, I understood that I had no choice but to go back to bed, which I hastened to do.

The light came back on at the end of his intervention and the whole apartment was bathed in it, leaving me amazed by the splendor of the illumination. You are sitting in a room in total darkness, everything is dark, you cannot see anything, and suddenly the light is turned on, and the room is completely bathed in brightness, it is a striking experience. It is as if you are given a new life; a new world and a new reality become yours, clarity pushes back the darkness, things take shape, everything becomes clearer, you are filled with a feeling of ease, certainty, and well-being.

An experience that never fails to remind me The illumination of the first moments of conversion. I will always remember this acute awareness of having entered another world, a parallel dimension in the same physical space where I lived but whose existence I was unaware of until then. The reality of God and His spiritual universe had become almost palpable and shattered my old paradigm. I remember saying to myself: but this is real, all this is real, this world, this dimension existed and I was not aware of it! It was striking to say the least. The light came on and a new world was revealed before me. I was happy to have gone beyond my social and philosophical prejudices to embrace this brilliant new world. Almost twenty years later, I still am. The light remains on.

And I always enjoy seeing people who are in that moment of enlightenment; when the truth of Christ first becomes real to them and they receive Him, before they become jaded Sunday Christians. Just two days ago I had the opportunity to savor the passion of a person new to the faith who expressed her joy in this encounter with God, this discovery of His reality, of the fact that Jesus is who He says He is. Her enthusiasm was contagious, the light had been turned on, and she wanted to tell everyone around her; she never ceased to marvel at what she was seeing and experiencing now that she did not see or experience even a month ago. The Gospel of John speaks of Jesus as the light that shines in the darkness, striking! Most marvelous light.

Who could have imagined what joy this electrician would bring to me by temporarily depriving me of light.