“Darkness cannot drive out darkness: only light can do that. Hate cannot drive out hate: only love can do that.” Martin Luther King Jr.
I sit in darkness to write.
The Preacher thinks it strange, but for some reason I like the way the womb of dark blankets the room around me. The light of the screen illuminates the path of my hands as words pour from their tips like water through a sieve. But only on a good writing day…
My favorite moment lies in the seeping of the light outside. Deep in my thoughts I stare at the screen until…my attention pulls toward the window. The horizon glows and day begins to chase the black away, slicing the dark with a blaze of glory.
My joy lies not in the darkness, but in the piercing of the inky surface of the sky. Light rays reflect on the clouds once obscured by the night. Apricot hues tint the soft underbellies, floating carefree like puffs of cotton candy in the sky.
.
And I take comfort in the sunrise. The promise of another day. The unfolding of God’s luminous grandeur in a slow satisfying show of splendor and power.
Power over the elements.
Power over darkness.
Ten minutes of chaos and terror changed lives forever as the news vomited words of another shooting in a world teetering awry. The worst mass shooting in modern American history.
Senseless violence,
An act of pure evil loosed eons ago in the garden.
Darkness grasping and clawing at the light,
Ever present, trying to triumph in a winless war by spewing hate over us, with a shower of venom.
“I am the light of the world. Whoever follows me will never walk in darkness, but will have the light of life.”
John 8:12
As our hearts rip wide, and this world dishes pain on a plate, we hold on to the only hope we have as we mourn life’s losses. But as we hang by a thread, we can endure the nightmare by taking comfort in his words, and looking toward the sky, for the promise of God’s light. He reminds the gripping blackness of his omnipresence, in the winking of the stars, glittering across the vault of heaven. We are not forgotten.
“The light shines in the darkness, and the darkness has not overcome it.” John 1:5
We hold the key to the light, in an ever darkening world. As we stare fear in the eyes, the truth of God’s promises will set us free .
“Even though I walk
through the darkest valley,
I will fear no evil,
for you are with me;
your rod and your staff,
they comfort me.” Psalm 23:4
Our God grieves the evil of this world he crafted with love and care. Yet he continues to shine brilliant the light of victory all around us. If we hold fast and seek the light, he will walk faithful beside us, and give us hope for our soul and the peace that floods our hearts.
“The Lord is my light and my salvation—
whom shall I fear?
The Lord is the stronghold of my life—
of whom shall I be afraid?“ Psalm 27:1
Only he can chase the fear away.