🦋 The Refugee Lanterns

The Refugee Lanterns

In a refugee camp near the Jordanian border, electricity was scarce. Each family received only a few hours of power daily, unpredictable and uneven.

One winter night, when the power failed completely, a Syrian father carried a small lantern to his neighbor's tent. The neighbor connected an extension cord to a car battery he had been saving for emergencies.

"Take what you need," he said.

Soon, cords snaked across the dusty ground — cheap, mismatched, patched with tape, humming faintly under the stars.

Dozens of tents shared the same small reserve of light.

Children studied.

Mothers cooked.

Fathers prayed.

When an aid worker arrived, she was startled.

"You are giving away the only power you have!"

A father replied:

"In Syria, we lost everything alone. Here, we lose nothing together."

In the darkest places, even a single lantern becomes a theology.

Reflection: In the darkest places, light multiplies only when it is shared.

This, too, is Butterfly Faith.