Allow me to tell you a story of a little light that liked to jump.
He loved to jump so much, that’s all he would do from morning til night. He would jump off curbs, off fences, and even off his parents’ car—it was parked at the time, but mom and dad weren’t happy about it regardless. He even got to bounce on a trampoline once, and wow, what fun that was!
He would jump up high and flip over or spin or do any number of other tricks, but what he liked best was jumping up as high as he could, straight as an arrow.
Of course, when you do nothing but jump every day, you get better at it, and he got better at it, alright. Before long, he could jump up to his bedroom window, then to the roof of the house, and then up to the top of the tree. And when he jumped up super high and spun around really fast, he would light up.
Well he kept practicing, and his parents started to worry. He jumped so high he didn’t come down for a minute! They made him wear a helmet and knee pads, but he never got hurt when he landed.
Before long, he would stay up for two minutes, then four, then an hour. His parents got so scared that they grounded him to his room and forbade him from jumping.
He was heartbroken. He cried for days while his parents fretted about what to do. This is what he loved, and he was really good at it. They really just didn’t want him to get hurt.
Finally, his parents couldn’t bear it any more and had a change of heart. They decided that if this is what he wanted to do, then they would support him, despite their concerns. He was so happy he hugged them and jumped so high and lit up so bright, he looked like a firework shooting into the sky. And he didn’t come back down for four hours.
But from then on, whenever he came back, he would hug his parents and tell them about all the beautiful far off places he could see from way up high. Their fear melted away and they grew proud of him.
Then one day after a long night’s sleep, he went out into the back yard and jumped so high that when dinner time came, he still hadn’t come back down.
And he wasn’t down for breakfast the next morning, or dinner that night.
His parents cried and missed him and were worried that he wouldn’t come back or that he would get really hurt when he finally came back.
But after a few days, he came back down and seemed tired but otherwise in good spirits. He hugged his parents and they held him as tight as they could while he told them of things so amazing and beautiful, they could scarcely believe.
Then he ate a good dinner and went to bed and slept for a long time.
When he woke up, he got his helmet and knee pads and took his parents to the back yard. “I’m going now,” he said, then pointed to the sky. “When night comes, you can look up there and you’ll see me.”
Then he gave them each hugs and kisses and with happy eyes and a big smile, he said, “Good night” and hunkered down then sprung into the air. As he climbed higher, he shone so brightly he looked like a rocket. They watched him until he was too far away to see.
That night, and every night after that, his parents went out into the yard and looked up at a new light in the dark sky. “Good night,” they said, and went to bed.
