Pastor’s Paragraphs

Pastor ’ s Paragraphs Hope from the darkness…

As Christians we like to focus a lot on the light of Christ,

and why wouldn’t we? Light is a whole lot better than darkness. We don’t like the dark because, often, it is where our fears and anxieties come to the surface. We’d rather spend our days enjoying the warmth of the light that comes with good days and just avoid the darker ones all together.

In her book Learning to Walk in the Dark, Barbara Brown Taylor says “I have learned things in the dark that I could never have learned in the light, things that have saved my life over and over again, so that there is really only one logical conclusion. I need darkness as much as I need light.” I believe that this is true for us as people of faith, even if we don’t like facing the darkness of life. It is often in the midst of that darkness that we are reminded that are lives on earth are not eternal and that things will not always be warm and bright in life or faith.

This journey into darkness is one that Jesus understood well. As we enter the season of Lent that begins with Ash Wednesday and concludes with Easter, we do so walking step-by-step with Jesus. As he journeys toward the cross, so too, do we.

Over the next few weeks, I encourage you to seek the voice of Christ in the midst of the darkness and know that you follow a Rabbi who knows what that journey is like. Know that, just like the Lenten journey, the hope of Christ is always in our midst as we journey this path of life together.