Friday, December 3, 2021

A Pathway Through the Darkness

 

Friday, December 3, 2021

Because of God’s tender mercy, the morning light from heaven is about to break upon us, to give light to those who sit in darkness and in the shadow of death, and to guide us to the path of peace.”  Luke 1:78-79

Each morning I sit in darkness in the wee hours before dawn’s first light.  There’s a lamp at my desk, and I’m typing words about how God’s light dispels darkness.  This is the beginning of my day, writing about the Daystar, the one John the Baptist’s mother said would break upon us.  When the light breaks things become much clearer.

Each year, at the beginning of the Christian Year cycle, this text bids us to turn to the light and be guided through the darkness that surrounds us.  Sin, the source of all anger, violence, injustice, and other callous attitudes we humans can fling around, is the darkness of our souls.  And, just as we cannot escape the rising and setting of the sun, no human is exempt from the touch of darkness.  We all walk through the valley of the shadow of sin’s death.  We all participate in adding to the darkness, and we all groan in waiting for the light to dawn.  It is as if we cannot wait for the darkness in our souls to produce death, the door to light.

A reflection of that valley (and the pathway of light that guides us through it) has become my traveling companion of late.  A few months ago I was told my heart is not performing well.  Since that time more test results have given me more information than I ever wanted to hear.  And it makes you think…deeply.  When I was attending Duke Divinity School to learn how to be a Methodist, I would walk past many doors in hallways on the path to daily chapel services.  One of those doors nearest the chapel was the Department of End-of-Life Studies.  In retrospect, I could swear there were cobwebs on the door hinges to that room.  None of the student-preachers wanted to be chaplains in death’s waiting room.  We wanted to point to eternal life, happiness of soul, and God’s love, not death.

Of late, the theoretical garment of the end-of-life’s journey has begun to unravel; in its’ stead is the haunting specter of Russell putting-on the practical shroud.  It’s haunting because it’s inevitable.  As I recently said to one of my loved ones, none of us gets off this planet alive!  A few notable exceptions are Elijah and Enoch; God took them home without tasting the transition we call death.

Without getting too maudlin on a Friday, let me say that I’m not totally preoccupied with the idea of death; being 74 years old I’ve had a lot of time to think about it up to this point…not to mention the truckload of funerals and hospital room conversations ministry has visited upon me.  I am, as Jesus was, well-acquainted with sorrows and grief[1].  What I am preoccupied with is finishing well.  I want to walk through that valley with wonder, amazement, faith, and an abiding sense of well-being.  I want to do what I’ve been preaching for forty years; I want to trust all to He Who judges justly[2] and who is also merciful for the sake of His Son, Jesus Christ.

I want for my life – whatever legacy that might be to my family, friends, and whomever God may choose – to offer hope in Christ and no other.  I want to experience what the Apostle Paul told the Philippian believers he craved above all, the fellowship of His sufferings, and the power of His resurrection!

For You Today

The Psalmist has the last word today; He knew what finishing well looks like on that final journey:

The Lord is my shepherd; I shall not want.  He maketh me to lie down in green pastures: he leadeth me beside the still waters.  He restoreth my soul: he leadeth me in the paths of righteousness for his name's sake.  Yea, though I walk through the valley of the shadow of death, I will fear no evil: for thou art with me; thy rod and thy staff they comfort me.  Thou preparest a table before me in the presence of mine enemies: thou anointest my head with oil; my cup runneth over.  Surely goodness and mercy shall follow me all the days of my life: and I will dwell in the house of the Lord for ever.  Psalm 23:1-6

You chew on that as you hit the Rocky Road; have a blessed day!  

[1] Title and Other Images:  Pixabay.com  Unless noted, Scripture quoted from The New Living Translation©   

For another post on this text see Zechariah's Song

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