Lessons from the Darkness

The good news is that I have been restored. My power, that is. At 12:30 am (this morning) my power was restored by a lovely man named Steve from the electric company. The good news is that I have power. The bad news - I need a new breaker panel. Sweet. I believe that would translate to money from my pocket to the pocket of the very capable electricians. I guess I'm okay with that. Gotta have power, right?

As I was waiting for the electric company to come and assess my powerlessness, I sat in the dark. Ok. I know, isn't that just stating the obvious? While I was sitting in the darkness, my mind wandered. I don't get a lot of "down time" where I have time to think about things. I usually have the TV on or music. Last night, I had none of that. Just me and my thoughts. I began to think about darkness. Here I was sitting in darkness. I'm 37 years old and learned quickly that I am apparently slightly afraid of the dark. I like to think that I'm afraid of the dark because my deeds are good (ha ha - you know, a play off the scripture that says that people liked darkness rather than light because their deeds were evil). Well, since I don't like the dark, maybe it's because my deeds are good. Again, ha ha. I write that with tongue in cheek. I know that within myself there dwells no good thing. Darkness, though, is remarkable. I began to think about the darkness that is in this world. I had hope and trusted that I would be restored to the light soon. In my spiritual life, I have the same hope. But, what about those who are in the darkness and have no hope? What about those who are in the darkness that are afraid of the dark and cannot see that there can be light in their world? Isn't it my responsibility to be the light to them? Am I being that light to those in the dark?

There are so many unknown things in the dark - shadows, eerie quietness, obstacles not clearly seen - for example, the bathroom door that I ran into because it was dark and I couldn't see that it was partially closed. I banged my head on it (not I have an egg and a bruise on my forehead - very attractive). Darkness is scary and unnerving. Imagine that this is what people feel in their souls. If I really think about it, my heart is grieved for those in the darkness. My obligation, then, is to be the light that they need to bring light to their darkness. Do I fulfill that obligation? Again, this is probably an area that I fail miserably at. I need to be light in the dark world. To show people that darkness does not have to be a permanent state for their souls.

Today I am restored to power. There is a comfort in knowing that when it starts to become dark, I can turn on the switch, and darkness will go away. I have learned some powerful things from being in the dark for just a few short hours. My dependence on the light is remarkable. Translating that to my spiritual journey - I can only conclude that my dependence on His Light needs to be remarkable. I am nothing without Him. I am powerfully aware that I need to be dependent on His Light to guide me through. I am powerfully aware that people live their lives in darkness - I could be the only light they see. Do I take every opportunity to be that for them?