No More Darkness

“I am the light of the world.

Whoever follows me will never walk in darkness,

but will have the light of life.” 

(John 18.12)

Push back the darkness.

With all your might, with the intensity of a thousand suns breaking into the blackest night - push back the darkness.

Why is it that we forfeit so much power to the darkness? You know how it is - some fool chooses to commit an act of vandalism and the community reacts by passing laws regarding curfew. A store experiences shoplifting and subsequently the owner harasses any teens seen standing around talking. A few hurtful actions push a community into fear mode and the war against... whatever... is on. Violence, in great or small measure, becomes the impetus for a rebounding flood of negative thought, emotion and action. All hail eye-for-an-eye as we walk around blind.

The recent (1)  bombing in Boston is a close-to-home example. A ripple of fear reverberated across the continent on Monday and the reaction will undoubtedly be stricter laws of some sort; increased vigilance, decreased trust.  Score: darkness 1, light 0.

Perhaps it is part and parcel for being human - that we let one act of hurt outweigh ten thousand acts of kindness and respect. Consider how many people walk into stores in North America every day, and not one of them causes any harm. In fact, many will hold a door open, pick up a dropped parcel for a stranger, give back miscalculated change... millions of acts of kindness every day. You'd think that the tsunami of positive reaction to so much goodness would wipe away the few acts of hurt that occur. But no; two thousand people walk into Walmart on a Saturday; one of them pulls a gun. Just one. The community responds as though the entire two thousand were criminals looking for a place to happen.   

Bah! Humans are crazy... but Love is crazier! I am convinced of Love for I have seen and experienced its healing power. There is some bad stuff happening in our world - lots of really bad stuff, globally and in our own back yards. But all that bad stuff clumped together and put on the scale is small potatoes compared to what God's Love is doing in and through us crazy humans. Around the world today, right now in fact, hundreds of millions of people are living the Love that they are. At this very moment the Spirit of Christ is moving within the hearts of billions. This very second acts of generosity, compassion, understanding and openness are beaming a brilliant light into our world. Jesus said, in Luke 17, that the Kingdom of God is within us (or among us, depending on the translation). What? The power, authority and healing of God's Kingdom is here, now - in you, in me, in her in him? Yup. 

“Darkness cannot drive out darkness: only light can do that.

Hate cannot drive out hate: only love can do that.” 

(Martin Luther King Jr., A Testament of Hope: The Essential Writings and Speeches)

We don't have to let the few acts of violence dictate who we are. We don't need a war on drugs, a war on bullying, a war on war. We only need to be true to ourselves, to the Love that is woven into the fabric of our DNA. Our neighbor experiences a home break-in. We could react in fear and all buy security systems, hiding behind locked doors. We could - and score one for the darkness. Or, we could forgive, and realize that Love is brighter than the darkness, stronger than fear, broader, deeper and infinitely more powerful than any violence. We could choose to continue to trust and thrust fear aside.

Remember that Mid-Week Devotion last year on being a "nudger"?  One small random act of kindness nudges back the darkness. Remember the numerous times I have reminded us that we are made in God's image - that image shines through us and pushes back the darkness. We can, like frightened kittens scatter at the first sign of threat, or, like lions we can let out a roar that shakes the forest. That roar proclaims this a day of renewal, of truth, of Love running the score board to infinity. 

On Monday a few people, who have forgotten that they were created for Love, detonated explosive devices that reverberated across the world. Join me in sending a vibration out today that shakes this earth to its core - one built on gratitude, unending forgiveness and mercy; one that shakes violence to its knees. With every person you meet today let Love guide your words, actions and attitudes. Push back the darkness; shake the world.

I leave the last word to author CS Lewis

"Christianity asks us to recognize that the great religious struggle

is not fought on a spectacular battleground,

but within the ordinary human heart, when every morning we awake

and feel the pressures of the day crowding in on us,

and we must decide what sort of immortals we wish to be."

(Mere Christianity)

Pushing with you,

Pastor Bill

A dark place

crumbles

as

light

through a single crack

pours

in

You are that crack

Beam

breathe

be

“There is a crack in everything.

That's how the light gets in.” 

(Leonard Cohen, Selected Poems)

(1) [First published April 18, 2013]