Hope in the darkness.

"We face darkness, then, in order to keep our peace and joy." by Paul Corrigan

This is a quote that particularly stuck out to me. Typically, when you think darkness or pain you don't equate peace and joy with it. That may be what you are praying for while you are going through that rough time, but you usually don't feel peace or joy until the healing process begins. Hope, however, is something that is possible to experience while in times of darkness. In a way, I guess that is the only time you really need hope. Whenever your life is all fine and dandy, what is really the point of having hope?

I understand the pain of losing a grandfather. I lost mine a few years back. With my grandfather, he went through a long process of illness and pain before the illness over took him. The doctors never could find out what was wrong, and up to his dying days did they try to figure it out. They probably would have still been doing tests the day of his death if my grandma hadn't stopped them. Sometimes we hear of people who are relieved when their relatives died after they were ill for a long time. They wanted their suffering to stop.
Well, when my grandfather passed away, I was not yet to that stage. I was still in the selfish stage. Sure, I was relieved that he wasn't suffering anymore but I still wanted God to heal him, not take him away. Maybe that's what everyone really wants. Who knows?

The last paragraph was the perfect ender, I think. It really topped off the whole thing. Kinda like the hope in the darkness.