By Fr. Jonathan Filkins

Ramon stumbled about in the dark, murmuring non-specific sear-expletives to himself, seeking those ever-elusive work boots. The room was dark, with his wife Angela breathing quietly in her slumber. It as typical as any other day, as he had to rise early to avoid the blistering heat of the afternoon.
“Certainly, they had been left by the door,” he thought but no, they had mysteriously developed legs and scampered off to the “Island of Wandering Boots!” never to be seen again. Rumor had it that this was the cursed island right next to the place where errant socks go.
Angela awoke when it was clear that her husband was not going to settle down any time soon. “What are you looking for?” came the calm voice from beneath the covers. Frustrated about the boots and now finding his wife awake. Ramon was not happy with himself. “Sorry, mi amor, I just cant’s find those stinking boots of mine. I am pretty sure I left them right here.”
“Well silly. Maybe you did leave them ‘right there,’ and a group of pixies, led by their pixie mother moved them to another place. Perhaps all of these pixies scrubbed and scrubbed the boots and then put on a coat of sealing wax.” Ramon was beginning to get the picture. Angela arose from the bed and the couple made their way to the kitchen.
There they were. Not like new, but that was hardly the point. There had been a lot of labor expended on these boots’ renewal; along with copious amounts of love. While the boots, eventually, did reach the end of their useful life, the memories of their care lingered far beyond.
Sitting down with a grunt, Ramon pulled on the newly cleaned underpinnings. “Hey, they almost feel new. Thanks, mi vida.”
“Hold on, we are not done yet,” came the response, “go take a look in the refrigerator. With a look of genuine curiosity, he opened the door and found a splendid new lunchbox, covered with stickers, paint and sparkles.
Leaning against the lunch box was a handmaid card. Opening it, Ramon found that each of the kids had expressed their love for their dad and what he meant to them. At the very bottom were the words left by his wife, mi amour es mi vida.
It would seem as though the children’s cleaning of a well-used pair of work boots would hardly bring about the heady influence of the Holy Spirit. Yet, if we believe that God is present everywhere, and for all time, it would be disingenuous of us to relegate this, or any other instance for that matter, as being somehow away from the light of God.
Spiritual darkness befalls us primarily by choice. Consider Ramon’s self-assured certainty of the location of his work boots. Are we too, so assured of our place and relationship with God? What if, what if, we are actually in a place we do not expect to be?
The Apostles received the Holy Spirit, at the Epiphony; proved for the Holy Spirit to be active for and through ourselves. It is the living Christ, upon this Earth. While our world may appear to be dark, with the riot of pestilence and turmoil, it is the light of the Holy Spirit which is amongst us, to be near us and to hear us..
Let us let the light Holy Spirit shine brightly through the darkness in all of that we think, do, or say.
Happy Fathers’ Day