The darkness can be scary. The world closes in around us. There are things going on out there, in the dark, that we cannot see…… that we cannot understand. We tend to see darkness as bad and light as good. The darkness can be physical or it can be metaphorical.
But, darkness is not always a bad thing. In the past, I have talked about lights in the darkness. This morning, I am sitting on my patio looking out into the dark. It is hours before sunrise. I can see across a valley to the dim outline of the Santa Rita mountains. They are majestic…….the handiwork of the creator…….my creator. There is a mining company over there, tearing away the side of one of the mountains. They are building a dump where they will dispose of the debris from the open pit mine that they will soon dig. They are destroying the mountain. They are hard at work……24/7. During the day, it is very hard to see what they are up to…….primarily due to the distance, about 15 miles. But, this morning…….actually every morning…….I can clearly see the lights of the machines that are killing the mountain. Paradoxically, I can see the damage that they are doing more clearly in the dark than I can during the day.
In the bright daylight of the good times, there isn’t much contrast between the goodness of God and the “good life.” This is the world that we live in as Americans. The reality is that even on our bad days, we have it better than 80% of the people on the planet. When you look at the world as a whole, Americans don’t see much darkness. We are fat…….and happy. And, often, we are blind to the work that God is doing. We push him off into a corner……and party on. In many ways, the people suffering in the “third world” can see God more clearly than we do.
And yet, even in America, we all pass through dark times……dark places. It could be illness, death, financial setback, or any one of a number of problems. It is often during these times of darkness that we see God best. The contrast between God’s work……God’s love……and the darkness of a bad situation is much greater…….if we only look for it.
I know a man who is in a dark place today. He sees himself surrounded by threats……demons. Neither he nor I can tell if the demons are real. They certainly look real to him.
There are a couple of possibilities:
The demons are real and are a manifestation of Satan.
The demons are real and are the work of man…..evil men.
The demons are not real.
But……there is a light in his darkness…..if he and I will only look for it. And that light is God. In many ways, God’s love shines brighter in his dark place than in my bright open airy place. I cannot rescue him. But, I can pray for him.
My prayer is this:
If this is from Satan…….drive him away.
If this is from evil men…….disarm or destroy them.
If this is not real…….heal him…….with the light of your love.
We are called on to fix the things that we can fix.
We are called on to pray about the things that we cannot fix……to give them to God.
We must focus on the pinpoint of light that stands out against the darkness. Our hope lies in the tiny spot of light…….not in the vast expanse of the darkness. Our only chance to grow is the light……God’s love. There is nothing in the darkness that will help us to grow.
Unfortunately, there is also very little that will help you grow in the broad light of the good times that we enjoy in this country. But, even in the good times, the light is there. You just have to look harder.
It does not matter how small the sins are, provided that their cumulative effect is to edge the man away from the Light and out into the Nothing. Murder is no better than cards if cards will do the trick.
Indeed, the safest road to hell is the gradual one — the gentle slope, soft underfoot, without sudden turnings, without milestones, without signposts.
A demon explaining sin and darkness, “The Screwtape Letters” by C.S . Lewis.