In due time

"What time is it?" I think to myself. The only clocks at my residence are digital, so when the power is off, the clocks are off. Such was the scene during a powerful wind storm that rolled across the area uprooting trees and affecting power lines. It was a Saturday evening so I was home from several errands. I was sitting in the living room watching the local TV news, and the weather segments peppered throughout the broadcast sounded very ominous.

The local news gave way to the national news, and no sooner did that broadcast get underway but the power flickered, went out once, came back, and then went out again, as though it was electricity's last gasp to stay going. The evening was still early with daylight remaining for a short while, so the only light came from the windows. The house interior quickly became dark. Since a power outage has occurred rarely — but it has occurred — I keep a lantern flashlight at hand.

"Yes, that worked but maybe I won't need it," I thought to myself. Darkness continued to descend and I just stayed put in the chair; I had completed everything I intended to do that day, the power company had already been alerted about the power outage as I learned through a neighbor, and it was just a matter of time before power would be restored. My iPad was still in my lap so I checked the time on that easily; the screen was the only powered thing I had and became the total light in the room. Weird.

Darkness. Total darkness. I looked around the house and just saw darkness. Even nightfall came and it was dark everywhere. The usual and familiar devices that tell the time were also dark. It was eerie. It was blackness all around including in my mind being disoriented about time and duration. When would this darkness end? How long had it been going?

It was a tomb experience of sorts. Everything was totally quiet. No refrigerator humming. No TV sounds. No music going. Nothing. It was a reflective experience, too. Stop over-thinking. Relax. Enjoy the time just to "be." And it certainly was a faith experience to believe that the power would be restored once repair crews got to our neighborhood. The "in due time, my pretty" phrase from "The Wizard of Oz resounded in my head.

After three hours suddenly the electricity just came back on. Everything that was blackness now returned to light. The TV cable went through its resume procedures. The refrigerator started humming again. And the all-important digital clocks were blinking 12:00. We had survived. Faith prevailed.

[Nancy Linenkugel is a Sylvania Franciscan sister and chair of the department of Health Services Administration at Xavier University, Cincinnati Ohio.]