When You’ve Known Darkness and Still Chose Hope

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1 hour ago

By Bernadette Thomas

I know what it’s like to feel as if all hope is lost.

To live without protection.

To move through seasons so dark you don’t know how you’ll make it out.

I’ve been there — worn down, exposed, trying to survive in places that offered no safety.

That kind of darkness changes you.

And it teaches you things no one ever wants to learn.

But I also know this:

I never gave up hope.

Even when I couldn’t see a way forward, something in me believed there was more.

That life had purpose beyond the pain.

That I was part of something bigger — even when I couldn’t yet understand it.

I had to move through darkness to see what I see now.

I learned discernment.

I learned boundaries.

I learned that not every space is meant to hold us — and that we’re allowed to leave what harms us.

I believe there is something greater than us.

Not something to debate or define — but something felt.

I believe in purpose.

I believe in light.

And I believe in love.

The love we carry for our children, our grandchildren, our loved ones —