Walking in the Darkness

This post and resulting Church service was all due to the impact of reading Barbara Brown Taylor’s ‘Learning to Walk in the Dark’. Without extracting swathes of text, I wanted to bring some of what she has highlighted to the fore, without eliminating that opportunity for you to buy the book if you wanted.

This Covid-19 Pandemic has brought much mental anguish, it has, through the ‘Working From Home’, through the lockdown, brought additional mental pressures about how we can cope without the freedom to socialise, be with others. It has also reduced – dependent upon where we live – that chance to worship together.

Hence, our opening prayer:

Holy God, we come this evening with open hearts to hear you. We often hear that we can see the light at the end of the tunnel, which puts us ‘in the tunnel’ currently. We may feel lost, a bit fed up, angry – but we seek that life, life in all its fullness. We ask for your forgiveness when we lose track of where you are leadings us. May we know of your forgiveness in our lives. In your holy name. Amen

We are not solar Christians, where life is only good in the Sun, but lunar Christians where God is seen also in the light from the Moon at night. God is with us all of the time.

Paraphrase from Barbara Brown Taylor, Learning to Walk in the Dark

Biblical Emphasis upon ‘God is in the Light”

Yes, there is an overwhelming emphasis upon God being in the light. The Gospel of John strongly denotes that duality of light and darkness with Christ. But still, in all of those passages, we might not see that God is also mentioned, not dormant but very present, in the darkness. Perhaps we are fixated by the light, and not always so willing to seek out the darker passages within Scripture.

We start in Isaiah (45:3) I will give you the treasures of darkness, and riches hidden in secret places, so that you may know that it is I, the Lord, the God of Israel, who call you by your name.  Abram met God at the end of the day (Gen 15:12-13a) As the sun was going down, a deep sleep fell upon Abram, and a deep and terrifying darkness descended upon him. Then the Lord said to Abram. Jacob wrestled with whom at night?  (Gen 32:22-30) The same night Jacob got up and took his two wives, his two maids, and his eleven children, and crossed the ford of the Jabbok. He took them and sent them across the stream, and likewise everything that he had. Jacob was left alone; and a man wrestled with him until daybreak. When the man saw that he did not prevail against Jacob, he struck him on the hip socket; and Jacob’s hip was put out of joint as he wrestled with him. Then he said, “Let me go, for the day is breaking.” But Jacob said, “I will not let you go, unless you bless me.” So he said to him, “What is your name?” And he said, “Jacob.” Then the man said, “You shall no longer be called Jacob, but Israel, for you have striven with God and with humans, and have prevailed.” … And there he blessed him. So Jacob called the place Peniel, saying, “For I have seen God face to face”. 

Moses met with God (Deut 5:22) “These words the Lord spoke with a loud voice to your whole assembly at the mountain, out of the fire, the cloud, and the thick darkness, and he added no more. He wrote them on two stone tablets, and gave them to Moses”. Creation is aware of the darkness (Psalm 119:19-21) “You have made the moon to mark the seasons; the sun knows its time for setting. You make darkness, and it is night, when all the animals of the forest come creeping out. The young lions roar for their prey, seeking their food from God.” 
Even King Solomon spoke saying (1 Kings 8:12) “The Lord has said that he would dwell in thick darkness.”

And in the New Testament, our well known Nativity story includes darkness: “In the time of King Herod, after Jesus was born in Bethlehem of Judea, wise men from the East came to Jerusalem,asking, “Where is the child who has been born king of the Jews? For we observed his star at its rising, and have come to pay him homage.” Followed by the Shepherds “In that region there were shepherds living in the fields, keeping watch over their flock by night. Then an angel of the Lord stood before them, and the glory of the Lord shone around them, and they were terrified. But the angel said to them, “Do not be afraid; for see—I am bringing you good news of great joy for all the people” and as Joseph and the family flee:  an angel of the Lord suddenly appeared in a dream to Joseph in Egypt and said, “Get up, take the child and his mother, and go to the land of Israel, for those who were seeking the child’s life are dead.” Then Joseph got up, took the child and his mother, and went to the land of Israel.”

Where can we see God in the darkness, in the passages above?

What of our wellbeing?

We have, within the Strathclyde Methodist Circuit, an Emeritus Professor whose work has focussed upon Psychology. So we asked is there a way out of the darkness? What actions might we take to move ‘out of the tunnel’? She spoke explaining that there isn’t one thing that suits everyone or fixes all problems – mainly as there isn’t a normal response in the first place. Nevertheless, there were strategies which we could employ.

1. Stay in touch with family and friends. Use the phone, if we are able use the plethora of modern ways of connecting online (Skype, WhatsApp, FaceTime or Zoom etc), from last Friday in Scotland we could meet up with people again in gardens if no area boundaries were crossed, and also don’t forget the possibly forgotten postcard. We have been sending these to some of our congregations inviting people to send them on to others.
2. Maintain the usual activities especially hobbies. In fact, why not take up a new hobby? Keep the brain active.
3. Don’t set unrealistic goals or beat yourself up if you are not doing as much as you think you should/could.
4. Concentration may be something which is likely to change. The time we may be able to focus may reduce, so read for shorter periods of time, and come back to that book later. It’s more of grazing on reading perhaps rather than swallowing the whole book in one.
5. Find ways to maintain that link with God: through Zoom, Facebook, YouTube, and the phone.

God is always there, never puts you on Mute

Dawning thoughts

When we so often speak of God as “in the light” it may not translate so readily in those dark hours of the night, in the dark times of our life – but God is still there. From Scripture we have ‘seen’ that God has been present to so many people when light has been absent. Joe have been acquainted with possible strategies to cope with the darkness of this pandemic to aid our own wellbeing. As we journey through this Lenten period of wilderness, as we pass through periods of angst and difficulty in life, walk with others in their times of hardship, may we know of God with us, may we see God in that darkness as well as in the lighter times.

We are not solar Christians, where life is only good in the Sun, but lunar Christians where God is seen also in the light from the Moon at night. God is with us all of the time.

Paraphrase from Barbara Brown Taylor, Learning to Walk in the Dark

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An extract from her book is available here:

Cover image attributed to Charlie Brown, with thanks.