Silver Linings

I was just hopping out of the shower when my roommate told me to come outside. Now, I have to tell you that traipsing about in the cold right after stepping out of my steamy shower wasn't on my list of things to do this morning. Still, I slipped on my pink fuzzy bathrobe and followed my crazy roomie outside. Don't ask me why I went in bare feet. I guess I thought our wet, icy sidewalk was heated or something.
It took a second for my eyes to adjust to the darkness, but when they did, what I saw took my breath away (I promise that it was the beauty of what I was seeing that took my breath away, not the cold sidewalk. Promise).
The sky was still dark, and the stars were still out. Everything was really still, and even the scattered clouds appeared to be frozen in place. You could barely see the moon, but it's light shone through the clouds and reflected off of them. The light and wispy clouds were completely lit up, but even the thick clouds had iridescent edges. Peeking out here and there were flickering, icy-bright stars.
As I stood there under the street light, my roommate beckoned to me. "It's prettier in the dark." I stepped out of the circle of light and into the darkness and light took on new meaning. What before had been shimmery now blazed, and what had been dark was now inky black.
Before I had been in true darkness I could not see the true beauty of the light. I was blinded and distracted by other lights until they were completely put out and stripped away. I normally wouldn't choose darkness, but I will gladly lay aside any light that keeps me from fully perceiving His light.