A couple of days ago, I ran across “Silver Bullet” while channel surfing. It’s basically a boy vs. werewolf movie based on a Stephen King short story. I remembered enjoying it years ago, so I kept watching. The scene where the town’s vigilantes are heading into the woods to find the psychopathic killer (they don’t know it’s a werewolf yet) is playing. A group of the “hunters” wander into a swampy part of the woods where the fog’s about waist deep. Everything’s okay (if you ignore the guns they keep waving in each other’s faces) until the lone flashlight goes out. I never realized that flashlights were a talisman against werewolves. Anyway, the light goes out, all the townsfolk lose it and the werewolf kills them all. I almost bailed on the movie after such a cheesy scene, but decided to watch the rest for nostalgia’s sake. The movie ends (the kid got the werewolf) and I flip over to one of the cable news channels just in time to hear that Corey Haim had died. He was the kid in “Silver Bullet.” The irony amazed me. I thought for a bit about this guy who had been such a bright and shining light for years, then something happened (his career going over a cliff due to aging) and his light went out. Then only tragedy. Hollywood is rife with stories like this. Andrew Koenig, Marilyn Monroe, George Reeves…this list is long. Their light shines brightly, then is extinguished.
How many of you have heard of Juanita Goggins? Not many I would assume. I learned today of this trailblazer. She was the first black woman to represent South Carolina as a delegate to the Democratic Convention (`72), be named to the Civil Rights Commission (`74) and be elected to the South Carolina legislature (`74). She told the AP, “I am going to Columbia to be a legislator, not just a black spot in the House chambers.” She wasn’t. She was pivotal in the passing of education funding, kindergarten expansion and teacher-student rations. On March third, police, called by her landlord who had not seen lights in her home, found Ms. Goggins in her rented house just four miles from the capitol building in Columbia. She froze to death. Her light shone brightly, then something happened and it was extinguished.
My friend Jim puts little witticisms on Facebook every other day or so. A couple of days back it was “flashlights are storage units for dead batteries.” I chuckled and went about my day. Later, the truth of the it hit me. You see, in each of us there is a light. It’s a natural thing. In some, the light is bright and nearly cosmic. In others, only a small divine spark. But it is there in each of us. The goal for is to let the light we have shine, illuminating the darkness that surrounds us and those around us. But, if our batteries die, our light goes out, and the werewolf gets us. How do we keep the batteries charged? It’s different for each of us, but how about simple things like drinking enough water, getting enough sleep, surrounding ourself by the positive energies of those we trust, by living and loving and laughing and lingering with those things that turn us on, by reading a book that challenges our mind and perceptions and then reading another book just for fun (a comic book, a trashy romance novel…your taste alone dictate fun), by occasionally going to the movie and having the popcorn, by not merely seizing the day but sucking the marrow from its very bones.
Let your light shine brightly. Your presentations will reflect the light…as will your life. And the werewolf will stay away!
About Dennis Wooldridge
