The hustle and bustle of the holiday season is over. The packages have been opened, the parties thrown, and the last of the pork and sauerkraut has been eaten. It seems as though were have been abruptly hurdled into a period of quiet and dark. But in today’s chapel we were reminded that this short church season of Epiphany is a burst of light in that darkness. It is a reminder that the light will return as we move through the cold, dark months of January, February, and March, and into the Easter season.
Even in our times of darkness, whether a physically earthly darkness or a period of emotional turmoil, we are never alone. To demonstrate this point, Mr. Bush shared a portion of a sermon entitled Thoughts on Day and Night, given by Sr. Pastor Michael B. Brown of Central UMC, Asheville, NC, in the early 1990s (Bergland):
"We deal with anger, rejection, grief, fear, economic stress, isolation, guilt, divorce, abusive relationships, chemical dependency, depression…and the list goes on. And most of all we fear that there is no way out – that we are abandoned to our pain – that night has fallen, and dawn will never come, and we are desperately alone. To those fears our morning lesson says: 'Darkness covers the face of the deep, while a wind from God swept…Then God said, ‘Let there be light.’; and there was light' (vv. 2-3). In other words, in our loneliness, we are not alone. The Spirit of God is present and moving. In our darkness, there is the promise of light. In our struggles, there is the unfailing love and nearness of one who is greater that whatever the world can throw our way.
"In the beautiful North Carolina mountains there is a host of stories about Native Americans indigenous to our region. I have always loved the one about the ritual of initiation for Cherokee boys who were crossing into manhood. Around age ten or eleven, the youngster would be taken by his father deep into the Pisgah forest. Dad would give his son a bow and one arrow. As darkness descended, the father would leave his son alone in the forest to prove his bravery by facing the frightening sounds of the night. Most of the young boys did not sleep much. Every hoot of an owl sounded like a threatening voice. Every cracking twig conjured up images of a bear or bobcat on the prowl. Every rush of wind sounded like whispers of the enemy in the forest. However, when daylight began to break, the young brave would spot another Cherokee off in the distance beside a tree. It would be his father, who had been there all night long, sitting silently nearby, watching, making certain that his child never actually had to face the darkness alone.
"So it is with us. However dark and desperate things may feel, God is near – always watching, always caring, always protecting us from facing the darkness alone – and always promising that in due time God will separate the darkness from the light, and the dawn of joy and peace will break upon our weary souls again. It will happen for you, however you may doubt it. God has not abandoned you to the nighttime. It will happen. The voice will sound: 'Let there be light!' And in time your shadows will disappear.”
Remind yourself as you are going about your daily routine that no matter how tough things get, you are never alone.
Bergland, John K., ed. Abington Preacher’s Annual 1994. Nashville: Abington Press, 1993.
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