Not Made For Darkness

The light shines in the darkness, and the darkness has not overcome it. -John 1:5


Graham Park was completely underwater yesterday morning. From the baseball fields all the way across the walking track to Highland Ave. was a great lake of water. With the promise of more to come.

But the clouds dispersed around noon, to reveal the glorious sun, which shone all afternoon. And the rains were held back.

Reading the forecast to predict mostly cloudy skies, I stepped outside for a walk this morning. The sun was shining as it only does the morning after an extended rainy period. It cast a warm and watery yellow glow on the day.

It has been proven, as though we needed proof, that our minds and bodies rebel at prolonged periods of gloomy clouds. We experience a sense of unease, even depression, and our hearts are cast down within us.

We were made for the light. I thought, as I walked, of our first parents and how they lived in the perfect light of God's presence. When they chose their own will over God's perfect will, darkness fell across men's hearts and over all creation.

And so, in our natural state we hate the light (John 3:20). Yet there is still in the collective conscious (or whatever you choose to call it) a deep-seated memory of the time when we dwelt in the light.

Something is not right. Surely everyone who ever lived has felt it and so contentment has fled. God created us to dwell in the light of His love, but we have hated the light and our foolish hearts have been darkened.

The Preacher wrote, "Light is sweet, and it is pleasant for eyes to see the sun (Ecclesiastes 11:7)."  Throughout God's Word we read that to see, to hear are gifts of God. We marvel, and are grateful at the light. In moments of clarity and reflection we wonder, "Who am I, O LORD?"

One thing I do know, that though I was blind, now I see.