Saturday Night Lights: By Holly Voget

 

Tonight my heart aches. Just because it hurts, doesn’t mean it’s a bad kind of ache. Maybe as humans we are too good at “escaping” the pain that we’re supposed to let ourselves feel every now and then.

A little over an hour ago a strong wind was whipping dust around outside my window. Occasional cracks of thunder and sparks of lightening added to the flurry as I stood from my comfortable, couch haven to shut out the noise with a pane of glass. In the moments that followed, I had a decision to make. I could either pop in another ten yuan, “quality recorded” movie and escape the loneliness that threatened to smother me on this Saturday night, or I could spend some time in quietness with the only one perfect enough to fill the aching places. Not without some effort, I chose the latter.

Water For Elephants had just finished playing and I powered the television off. Sitting down in front of the much more high-definition screen that is my window, I opened it slightly and turned off all the lights. Taking in the sights and sounds of the weather episode before me, I let the feeling of isolation start to flood toward me like a wave. For some reason, loneliness in a foreign country surrounded by mountains is compounded about ten times. But before the feeling could consume me, I began to dialogue with my Creator.