Sid and I are watching a worthwhile TV miniseries called “A Small Light” on Prime Video. It is the story of Miep Gies who was instrumental in hiding Anne Frank and her family in Amsterdam during the Nazi occupation. The show’s depiction of Miep’s transformation from a carefree, fun seeking socialite to a person willing to sacrifice her life to help others is riveting.

We have not completely finished the series yet. At this point we are learning more about Miep’s quiet social worker husband Jan who takes the concept one step further. He not only becomes persuaded by his wife to help the Franks but over time feels he must do more. He even becomes willing to kill.

Thankfully we do not live as Jews in Nazi Germany, though its horror still lives in our neshama, in our soul. For those impacted by injustice and cruelty the difficulty of life’s challenges is universal and timeless.

To some degree at some times in our lives we all can feel hopeless about the world’s future, our country’s future, our personal futures. There are certain periods of history and in our personal lives when the balance, or lack of balance, shifts in ways that causes us to feel insecure, unsafe. Given day-to-day roadblocks and disappointments, we at least would like to come home to feeling our family, our community, nation, or the world are safe. Today, and perhaps in other ages, that thought, those hopes, seem less possible. When multiple life settings are fragile, perhaps as now, we can lose our way, lose our hope.

Not only is there uncertainty in multiple arenas, the interplay of possibilities also frames our sense of well being. When we’re ill, the news seems worse. When we’ve lost our job and the economy is terrible we can feel defeated. When nuclear weapons negotiations are occurring at the same time as other more negative happenings, our lives can feel overwhelming.

Perhaps none of this is by accident for this is not the World to Come. We need God not just to be our source of strength, but also, to help us know what to do in light of the reality that uncertainty is life. We need His Light.

Miep Gies experienced a radical change of personality and gained motivation for purposeful living when a person who had been kind to her, and his family, became in danger for their lives. Her selfless courage was the result of the love she felt when Otto Frank accepted her into his employment at a time when she felt totally worthless and without hope. His love sparked her ability to grow as a person, more toward the light. Otto Frank’s seemingly small act of kindness nurtured this life altering beginning, this small light of truth and goodness that grew as Miep then joined with others to help even more Jewish people. Her heart broke over the injustice and evil workings of the Nazis and became filled with love of the victims.

Her husband Jan in the next episode we are now watching has gone to the next level as he is deeply in the Resistance movement even willing to kill to defend others. Both are transformed, have purpose. Miep can no longer enjoy the frivolities of her friends in the face of the vast suffering she knows is present.

When we feel defeated the evil one has won. How empowering to remember God’s got this. In watching the courage of Miep and Jan I am reminded how fragile and frail we all are. Even on our best days we often feel there’s not much we can do to change most situations let alone stand up against a governmental authority like the Nazis! Though Miep and Jan don’t discuss faith in God, we are at an advantage for we know the source of their strength. That sense of His Presence gives us more reason to be able to be motivated to follow their encouraging examples.

My guess is “A Small Light” as the name for the miniseries was chosen to obviously reflect these young peoples’ brave actions and self sacrifice in the face of dark danger. As I watched their transformations I couldn’t help but interpret the light as the light of our Creator, who is with us in all of life’s challenges guiding our steps to bring out that light if we’re willing to look beyond ourselves, beyond our individual comforts, even our personal safety. Who could think that the actions of these two unlikely people could change so many lives and destabilize the Nazi domination as they did? Yet that is how powerfully each of us can serve if we are willing to listen and follow His teachings, each of us, one person at a time.

Ironically, as Miep gave up personal pleasures and lived more deeply in the realities of her surroundings, outside of her bubble, she became able to see her previous priorities as frivolous. She continued to have fun times and joyous occasions, now with the Franks, even if bittersweet. As her worldview grew, so did her heart.

We’re not being asked to topple an occupying regime. How much moreso should we be able to fret less about our circumstances, or help a neighbor in need, or speak up against injustice. How much brighter the light when each small light stands alongside the next, truly forming a beacon of His Light shining His Love on us.

Shabbat shalom.

Diane