the castle of lights

​At a meditation discussion one night, the leader offered a parable that offered an answer to why happiness is so easy for some people and why others seem cast into sadness and suffering:
 
Every person, every human spirit, is born directly into a beautiful, immense castle with many brightly lit rooms, full of possibility and promise.
 
For some, the walk through life leaves their base, their castle, largely unchanged. They are surrounded by light and encouragement and hold fast to that initial security. Certainly, everyone has a dim day here or there. But their castle is largely intact and they can see their way through each moment of life with a level of strength and clarity.
 
For others, life brings circumstances or challenges that shut off a light at some point, then another, then another. After a time, the bright castle is no longer accessible, the grand rooms are forgotten and dark.
 
I was very taken with this short story that night a few years ago and have thought of it often. It is not particularly encouraging, but it does offer a basic truth that some things just are as they are.
 
I do not think we select which castle we are born into, or the roads that lead to it and away from it. We enter where we enter and must find our way. I see it as my job now to keep the lights on and to get back to the rooms of promise I know I was gifted when I arrived.