Darkness and Light

The clocks went back this weekend.  For a few days there is a little more light in the mornings, but inevitably this means greater darkness in the evenings: winter’s cold tentacles tightening.  How does this idea grab you?  For my part, there are always memories of childhood, with the open coal fire in our quite large living room.  If I got too close it was uncomfortably warm; if I moved to the opposite side of the room, it felt cold and almost frightening, as if I were outside.

It’s strange how darkness is associated with fear in our minds.  We’re just passing Halloween, when fear is the ‘emotion of the season’, and some allow the world of darkness to draw near to our own.  Even in normal times, an idea or experience that is quite commonplace during the day, when we are confident and self-assured can take on a totally different dimension at three in the morning, when we can’t sleep and feel alone.   Doubts creep in – no, swarm forth – threatening complete annihilation: sheer panic can take over.

It’s good on these occasions to remember that, in His earthly life, Jesus experienced all aspects of our humanity.  On that dark night in Gethsemane, for instance, we probably see him at his lowest, in human terms.  He knew what he must do; perhaps he sought encouragement from his closest disciples, but they were tired and, perhaps on this occasion more noticeably than any other, were no use to Him.  So he turned to His Father.  Just as we might, he prayed that there might be another way (Matt. 26:38-40). 

Remember that it wasn't long before these dramatic events – with which we are all so familiar – that he was closely confronted with death at the home of Martha and Mary (John ch. 11).  He was deeply moved by the effect of Lazarus’s death on others, and we’re told that he was greatly distressed (11:33). 

The thought of his own death, even though he knew he would ‘come out the other side’, must have been just as distressing.  Certainly, no other moment, in human terms, could have been darker.  However dire our circumstances, however dark we may find our nights, however lonely, however desperate we may be, we can be sure that Jesus knows what it’s like, because He’s been there, and can uphold us through it all.  All we have to do is turn to Him.

Paul, too, spoke of dark times.  Writing when the early church was undergoing great persecution, he refers to them “experiencing trouble on every side, but not crushed; perplexed, but not driven to despair; persecuted but not abandoned; struck down, but not destroyed.” (2 Cor. 4:8-9).  By way of encouragement, he says, “God, who said ‘Let light shine out of darkness,’ is the one who shined in our hearts to give us the light of the glorious knowledge of God in the face of Christ.” (v.6).

Today’s news stories can be frightening; some can have a personal impact on our lives.  When we wake up in the night, alarmed by what we might face in the morning, it can be hard to feel any kind of reassurance.  But there is a light that shines in and through the lives of all who believe: the light that comes from God, who has power over death itself, is constantly present in our hearts.

It’s a light that needs only the simplest prayer to its Source to turn it on.