SEAGRAVES: The Light of the World

Published 9:10 am Thursday, December 26, 2024

Christmas morning 1972 may be the most memorable one in my life.

I was 10 years old and I knew what gifts Santa was bringing because like all children I snooped. G.I. Joe action figures and a rolling command center were the big-ticket items. Three books from the NFL Library were also under the tree that morning and they are the only gifts I still have from my childhood. They hold a place of prominence in my bookcase. The G.I. Joe and the books were not the most important gifts that day.

The most important gift involved my father, Felton.

My dad worked for Georgia Power and happened to be on call that day. Hurricanes, ice storms and the like affected our family more than others. Our number was listed in the local phone book under Georgia Power emergency numbers — 912-452-6544. After Georgia Power went on strike in the early ‘80s the number changed. Unfortunately, for a young recently married couple, Chuck and Patti Rogers, the number became theirs.

On that Christmas Day, I woke up like I usually did on Christmas morning and rushed to the living room and the Christmas tree. I plugged it in expecting colored lights reflecting off of the ornaments, what I got was darkness. I was crushed, not because of the darkness, but because of what the darkness meant. It meant that my daddy was not home but was out in that darkness working to restore power before others were disappointed.

I made do … I grabbed a flashlight and began reading those books, “Great Wide Receivers of the NFL,” “Great Defensive Players of the NFL” and “Greatest Games of the NFL.” I think I was halfway through the first one when the Christmas tree flickered, went dark, and finally burst into life with colored lights, tinsel, and ornaments aglow.

In that moment I realized, as much as a 10 year old could, possibly the most important thing a human being can realize … hope. I realized the hope that came with the lights being restored and coming out of darkness. My hope had been that my Daddy would be home soon and the light was hope realized. Daddy walked in the door a few hours later after serving the people of Milledgeville, completing this most memorable Christmas Day. I think a metaphysical light began to dawn in my life that morning,

something or someone I could not explain or identify began to tug at my heart and call me. It would be another five years before I figured out what it was and took a leap of faith. Fifty-two years after the fact I look back on that Christmas Day and realize it was the creator of the universe, the father of

light, that planted a seed that would grow and flourish because of the light.

I have experienced much in my 62 years. As I sit and write this I am in a place I never imagined I would be, seeing, smelling, hearing, tasting and feeling more of the world than I ever dreamt. Karen and I chased the sun across the Pacific Ocean, and crossed the International Date Line, to see the

spectacular sight of Tokyo, Japan at night. It was a beautiful sight! As we touched down my thoughts rushed back to that long ago morning and the significance of not just light, but THE light!

I have seen the goodness this world offers and I am reminded of the words from the Gospel of John 1:5 “The light shines in the darkness, and the darkness has not overcome it.”

My hope for you today is that you walk in the light and that you realize the hope that comes from it.

—Scott Seagraves is a retired GMC Prep educator. His column appears occasionally in The Union-Recorder.