Christ’s Light Shines through the Darkness
Contributed By Margaret Brough, Church News contributor
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The Light of Christ can chase away darkness in our lives.
Article Highlights
- A woman finds comfort as she recognizes the Light of Christ amidst her husband’s health trials.
“I was comforted and recognized God’s light that shone into my heart like a star.” —Margaret Brough, Kaysville 13th Ward, Kaysville Utah East Stake
On December 7, 1998, my husband, Harvey, had a dissected aorta and had heart surgery. He was doing all right and we looked forward to getting him home from the hospital in time for Christmas, and then he had a stroke. First, he had open heart surgery, then pneumonia, then a staph infection, and then a stroke. It seemed time and again that he could not recover.
A week before Christmas when he had the stroke, Bishop David Hill stopped by our house and asked what the ward could do. I said we needed to have a day of fasting and prayer for Harvey’s recovery.
The nights were the worst part of the ordeal. In the middle of the night, things looked so black and overwhelming. At this time, a nonmember from Florida sent me a story:
“My college physics teacher once asked the class, ‘Can you see farther in the daytime or at night?’ … He then explained that the most distant object we can see in the daytime is the sun, but that at night we can see stars that are millions of light-years away. Sometimes when my own private world seems to go dark, I think about that. When our son Paul was in a coma … I found my way to the hospital chapel. There in the darkness as I prayed for my son, I felt a warmth, a reassurance, a peace that was the light of Christ’s presence. Paul … is now fully recovered. The glimpse of heavenly light that pierced that dark night will be with me always.”
After I read that beautiful story, I was comforted and recognized God’s light that shone into my heart like a star. This bright light of Christ helped me to endure. Because of these things, Harvey survived. I had decided we wouldn’t have Christmas until he was home. On January 23, 1999, Harvey came home. The neighbors and several other families in the ward left their Christmas lights up so they could turn them on for the night. Our neighbor, Mae King, collected a group from the ward that came and sang Christmas carols. All the love and “Christmas joy” put Harvey in a mood that all he could do was cry with gratitude.
The prayers and fasting allowed us to have Harvey for four more years. We realized at that time, and we still know, that the Lord heard the many voices from the 13th Ward (and around the world all our missionary relatives were praying too), and He loaned Harvey to us for four more years. From the bottom of my heart, I thank all who fasted and prayed for Harvey. They made a Christmas miracle that year. —Margaret Brough, Kaysville 13th Ward, Kaysville Utah East Stake
