Ever feel like you haven’t a clue where the next step is? Or what you’re about to tread on? At that point a light becomes a blessing beyond words!!
 
Recently I lost my glasses, and whilst my sight correction isn’t huge, it certainly makes a difference, especially in low lighting. I’m perfectly capable of walking around safely without glasses, but my goodness is it frustrating trying to find anything or make out any details. People become blurs, and I am accidentally rude because I have no idea who they are! My daughter waves her latest creation at me to show me, in the sunny confidence of those blessed with 20/20 vision that I too can see it from the other side of the room. The reality is I can barely make out a thing! And in the dark, it’s just hilarious! Dog toys are a particular hazard, not least because dogs have absolutely no clue about glasses, poor night vision, or tidying up!
 
Light and sight both make life a lot easier, though not to be taken for granted. We often talk about God as light, bringing light in the darkness, illuminating our lives. God and goodness are usually associated with light, just as evil and bad things are associated with darkness. Perhaps because that is because we are often more afraid of what we cannot see, and the things which we cannot control become far scarier when we can’t grasp the scale and nature of them.
 
The bible tells us that God is equally at home in both light and darkness, and that even the darkness is not dark to Him. If we turn from literal to metaphor, God brings light even in the darkness, in the places where we are most uncertain and afraid. Often, it’s a tiny pinprick of light – but it is enough for us to see our way forward. I’m reminded of Gandalf in the Mines of Moria. A faint light emanates from the tip of his staff as he guides the Company of the Ring through the deserted, dark, and very dangerous Mines. It is a journey without sense of time and filled with terror. They know enemies may lurk around every corner, that the path may fall away into an abyss at any moment, and without daylight they can no longer have any sense of the wider world around them. That faint light is their salvation, their safety, their hope.
 
Whilst few of us I guess are likely to ever tread a road as literally dangerous and terrible as the one the Company took through Moria, there will almost certainly be moments in our lives which will feel like that. And in those moments, when all seems dark and lonely and hopeless, as we open our eyes and become accustomed to the dark, we realise there is a faint light. It is not so dark, and we are not alone. There is still a long road to tread, but we will have company, and enough light to see our next step along the way, until daylight comes again, and we can see clearly.

Revd. Talisker

Photo by Marek Piwnicki on Unsplash