Harger: Amidst a dark week for WA, we saw the light of ordinary heroes
Dec 12, 2025, 9:19 AM | Updated: 4:17 pm
We had a rabbi on the show this morning talking about Chanukah and the story of the menorah. How the Maccabees reclaimed the Temple, but found only enough oil to light the menorah for one day. It lasted eight. A small light that refused to go out.
He brought up its symbolism. That we can all be the light in a dark world. And I can’t help but think of the people right now who are being exactly that during what has been a very dark week for many.
In Skagit County, as rivers started to swell, emergency managers put out a call. Simple ask: If you can use a shovel, we could use you. They needed volunteers to fill sandbags.
Dozens and dozens showed up. The same scene in Ferndale. It happened across Skagit and Whatcom counties. All across Western Washington.
Their own homes were safe. They could have stayed dry, stayed comfortable, watched the news from their couches. Instead, they grabbed shovels and started filling bags because their neighbors needed help. Because their communities needed to be protected.
And then there are the search-and-rescue crews. Men and women in hip waders, rowing and walking their boats through river water filled with debris and sewage, trying to reach someone trapped. Rescue crews rappelling out of helicopters next to power lines, swooping down to pull people from cars stuck in the middle of a swollen river.
Think about that for a moment. Dangling from a helicopter next to high voltage lines, reaching into rushing water to grab a stranger. That’s the job. That’s what they signed up for. That’s what they did this week, over and over.
These people are the light in a dark world.
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Maybe you can be that light today
It doesn’t have to be dramatic. It doesn’t have to make the news. Hold the door for someone whose arms are full of packages. Let that car merge into traffic. Return someone’s abandoned shopping cart to the store.
Small acts. Unnoticed by most. But that’s how it works. Enough small lights, and suddenly the darkness doesn’t stand a chance.
In this holiday season, in this time of bringing light into the darkness, we have people all around us doing just that. Some of them are rappelling out of helicopters. Some of them are filling sandbags until their backs ache. Some of them are just being decent to strangers in small ways that all add up.
As the rabbi said, we can all be the light.
Maybe the lesson of the menorah isn’t just about one miracle thousands of years ago. Maybe it’s a reminder that we get to choose, every single day, whether we add to the darkness or push against it.
A small light that refuses to go out. Turns out, we saw a lot of those lights this week.
Charlie Harger is the host of “Seattle’s Morning News” on KIRO Newsradio. You can read more of his stories and commentaries here. Follow Charlie on X and email him here.
