From PRX, this is the Moth Radio Hour. I'm your host, Chloe Salmon.

On days when I'm having trouble seeing the light at the end of the tunnel, my work

at the moth has a tendency to offer up glimmers that help remind me to shift focus. There are the

stories, of course, but there are also the people, those who share and those who listen. I've seen

storytellers have a line of audience members waiting to talk for a moment after

the show and share their own experience.

I hear people who call into our pitchline feeling alone, not knowing that others have called in

with similar stories, sometimes even on the same day.

I've read emails from our radio and podcast listeners

who heard a story that struck a chord

and inspired them to write to us with their own connection.

So many people who look for light and keep looking and listening,

even when things get pretty dark.

In this episode, stories of searching for points of beauty and holding on to them

when we can. Our first story comes to us from Maniza Nakvi, who told it at St. Anne's

church in Brooklyn. Here's Maniza live at the Moff.

So... Here's Maniza live at the Maw. So back in December, 2016,

I was sitting in my office at the World Bank in Washington, D.C.

Feeling unmoored, disheartened.

Lately, the noise has been so loud and ugly

about the Muslim ban and building a wall.

I'm beginning to panic. And what's a person like me even supposed to do about this?

...