It’s been said not to forget in the dark what you knew in the light. I would add that the opposite is equally important: Do not forget in the light what you knew in the dark.
G. Michael Hopf’s famous words help flesh this out: “Hard times [dark times] create strong men. Strong men create good times [times of light]. Good times create weak men. And, weak men create hard times.” This is the cycle of forgetfulness that every people, every man is prone unto.
New Yorkers said, “Never forget,” and then they went ahead and elected a Muslim mayor. The addict, as he’s once again standing in a wreckage of his own, says, resolutely, “This is the last time,” only to find himself right back there time and again.
Dark times bring with them a paradoxical clarity of vision unknown to the otherwise blinding light of the good times. It’s unfortunate, but it is often the case that when we are most at ease is when we are most vulnerable.
Dark times mold us in a way that the good times never could. They violently shake us and wake us up to our own stupidity and foolishness, after which we put ourselves back onto the straight and narrow, on which we do well for a while, but after a while the straight becomes a little too straight and the narrow a little too narrow. We forget, often willfully, the darkness we escaped and how we escaped it, and we itch to stretch our legs and dip our toes back into that which will ultimately take us out of the light and put us right back into that same old dreadful darkness again.
But it need not be this way. We need only remember, and remember continually. When you are eating the fruits of your labor, forget not whence those fruits came, and in doing so, you will not only keep them but continue to enjoy their sweetness. So remember, and remember this: Do not forget in the light what you knew in the dark.
Do Not Forget in the Light What You Knew in the Dark
