Descent into Darkness, Ascending Light
It is late in the day when the darkness descends. The sun disappeared over the mountains hours ago, but the darkness cares not about daylight. Televisions light up myriad living rooms and bed rooms and bars with magical colors and join the cacophony of sound already waging war for your attention. But the darkness won’t be deterred. Talking heads battle for Americans’ opinions, arguing point and counterpoint, feeding the darkness. It fills corners of rooms and alleys of minds capturing ground as light fades. It moves along walls and overtakes weak light fraying at the edges. As eyes grow weary and hearts grow faint, minds fall deeper into the dark crevasse where only night prevails. Blackness pervades. The hero is no more. It is finished. Darkness is complete.
But wait…
The first light peeks around the edge. Where darkness was once complete, its own frayed edges begin to show. Where darkness once engulfed the world and all seemed lost, the shimmering hope erupts through the tiniest of cracks. With every advancing second the light grows stronger, brighter, overtaking the darkness. Darkness has no choice but to retreat, as by definition it is the absence of light. Light emerged from around the edges before the stone even moved. Light prevails as the morning sun ascends. Where there is light there can be no darkness.
“The Light has come into the world, but men loved darkness more than light, because their deeds were evil.” (John 3:19, Berean)
“I have come into the world as a light, so that no one who believes in me should stay in darkness.” (John 12:46, NIV)
No matter the cause of the darkness – not death, nor politics, nor addiction – no darkness can overcome the light. Merriam-Webster defines “dark” as “devoid or partially devoid of light.” Science anywhere and everywhere proves light displaces darkness. The Bible defines Jesus as the light of the world. No matter where I am, no matter what the world says or does, the light of Jesus Christ always defeats darkness.
(Photo courtesy of Abraham Hunter and Art of the South. Mr. Hunter is an amazing artist whose light shines through his work.)