The Darkness

God [sometimes] puts out our lights to keep us safe... because we are never in more danger of stumbling than when we think we know where we are going. - Brown Taylor 

After reading a few studies that have been done on the effect that ambient light has on our sleep patterns, my wife and I have been working on making things darker in our bedroom.  

We purchased blackout curtains, and we ensure that the blinds are closed tight every night.  I've also gotten vigilant about covering up all of the little "blue" lights that blink from our cable box, Apple TV, cell phone chargers and the like. 

I got to thinking this morning about the way we too-often view darkness in negative terms when, in fact, there's so much that is generative and life-giving about it.   

What if we began to see the dark spaces in our lives a bit differently?  What if we began to see them as places where we are finally able to let go of our need for control and our reliance on our own power? 

The poet David Wagoner describes it like this:  

Stand still.  The trees ahead and bushes beside youAre not lost.  Wherever you are is called Here, And you must treat it as a powerful stranger, Must ask permission to know it and be known.

I have come to believe that if we are willing, we can find God in the darkness.  If we are open, we can discover God's presence in the dark places of our lives where it seems as though no light will ever reach.  

Because it is in the darkness that we will have to finally admit that we can't find our way on our own--that we need a hand to hold on to as we make our way forward.  

And then we need to trust that, when we reach out blindly in the black, the loving hand of the Divine Guide will find ours and hang on for dear life.  

May the grace and peace of our Lord Jesus Christ be with you now and always. Amen.