Midnight

When we were kids we played a game called "Midnight." Similar to tag, it took place after dark and was played on nights when my family had hosted a summer barbeque and there was a yard full of unsupervised kids. One person would sit on the back step and count (1 o'clock, 2 o'clock...) while the rest of us would run around the house to hide behind the bushes and trees in the yard. When the seeker reached the count of "midnight" and started out to find us, we would jump out and run, as fast as we could, back to the steps. It was a noisy and exciting game. For the youngest it was the darkness and the element of surprise when someone would jump out that made it just scary enough to be fun. As you got older the excitement centered more on who you might be hiding beside in the dark, or who you might let catch you as you ran. At the end, though, there was the safety of home base where we would arrive screaming and laughing, safe in the light on the steps.

Sort of a metaphor for life, isn't it? A little dark, a little scary. Fun and exciting, filled with laughter and innocence. Aren't we all trying to get to home base, to the light on the back steps?