The Light That Does Not Cringe

The day is done, and now comes the inventory. You press play on your own voice, and before the first word finishes, you cringe.

It sounds desperate. Annoying.

Too much. You want to delete it, to pretend you never spoke at all.

But listen closer — beneath the tone you hate, there is a light that does not cringe. The true light that gives light to everyone was coming into the world, and it came into you.

It does not apologize for existing. It does not modulate itself to be less noticeable.

You are judging a performance, but the light is not performing. It simply is.

The darkness has not overcome it, and it has not overcome your voice either. What you hear as desperation, the light hears as a cry it has been waiting to answer.

You are not too much. You are the lamp on the stand, finally visible in the gathering dark.