The Light Side, by Tim C. Leedom and Linda C. Adams (Manoa Valley Publishing Company, ISBN 096468851-4), is a special book for a special moment. Read it to your children when snuggled on the sofa under the afghan. Give it to a special friend who needs a time-out to remember. Read it in those moments when the world around you seems insane. The Light Side will give you understanding and comfort.
The story begins with the world in newness. Children awaken to the Light for the first time. Animals, trees, birds, insects, and even the homes and buildings awaken to this new life.
All is peaceful. All are equal. The comforting Light shines on everyone and everything.
If only this tranquility could last forever.
As time passes, the children grow distrustful of each other, of the animals and trees. The trees, animals, and buildings, in turn, begin to distrust those not like them. It is a time when everyone sees differences.
With all these differences, whom does the Light now favor? The Fortress declares that the light favors the buildings. The mighty oak says it is the plants and trees that are most loved by Light. The animals are certain that they are the chosen ones. And the children know that the Light loves them most of all.
War breaks out in this once peaceful world. Each group wants to bring about peace and order but they don’t yet realize that peace can’t be won through war. They don’t understand that they can’t “go back to the way things were” when they have separated themselves from each other.
The Light Side is about recognizing the differences and similarities in all of us. We are all a single part of the greater whole. When we break apart, fail to recognize our place in the world, disharmony will reign. It is only by seeing, and loving, who we are as a whole that peace can reign once more.
After all, we are all equally blessed by the Light.
