I knew it was going to be a bad fireworks season this year when I saw so many different tents selling them to the public. I was right too. The bangs and booms started before the first of July and lasted way past the fourth. I have never been a big fan of fireworks since I was a boy. It was then that a local fair set off a huge show near our house and I saw how the noise terrified our dogs. I sat on the floor with them during the whole show, holding their shaking bodies.

I know a lot of people enjoy the colorful light shows the fireworks can put on at times. They can be bright, brash, and beautiful. Still, I find that I prefer the gentler lights of Summer to these noisy ones. I love seeing the moon rising above the hills in the evening. It’s gentle, smiling face always reminds me that God loves me and is watching over me from above. The sparkling stars too always look so heavenly and divine when you take the time to look up into the skies and watch them shine. I also love the beautiful, blinking lights of the fireflies this time of the year. Seeing their lovely, little lights as they fly around always fills my heart with joy and light as well. It nourishes my soul and reminds me of what a glorious world we live in. And it makes me want to thank our Heavenly Father for creating it.

I think we all might do better to nurture and grow the gentler lights within ourselves. Our society seems to praise and admire those who come off as booming and brash. It seeks to shower attention on them. It seeks to look only at the surface and ignore the light within. The gentler lights, however, the lights of love, kindness, goodness, and joy are Heaven sent. They are meant to be shared. They are meant to be shined. And when we do so, our souls glow.

May you always shine your gentle, loving light. It will help you grow brighter each day. And it will prepare you for our true Home where the Love and Light never ends.