Periods of darkness, the absence of light, are part of the human condition. This is true on every level: personal, national, global. Reflecting on our own lives, we can all recognize those passages through darkness marked by loss and defeat, emptiness and the absence of hope. A look back at world history shows similar passages, marked by war, famine, disease, death, and oppression.
Light ascending ~ æssmith photo
What links these periods of darkness at every scale is the subversion of truth, the waning of hope, the absence of love. Truth, hope, and love haven’t suddenly disappeared, but we have somehow lost sight of them. We have ceased to be vigilant, to guard the treasure of our hearts and minds and souls. For Christians, recognizing the absence of our treasure is to take the first step towards its recovery.
All Western nations, including my own, struggle with vigilance when it comes to protecting the freedoms and values we cherish. All Christians struggle with vigilance when it comes to seeing and opposing evil when it threatens those freedoms and values. Thus it is a frustrating and fearful thing for a Christian to watch a friend and neighbour slide into blindness, into the dark.
Cross ~ æssmith photo
Yet you and I are not powerless in this situation. Having faith, we can resort to prayer and trust in God’s power of love to prevail. Our faith tells us that love will prevail, that blindness is not as widespread as it appears to be, that genuine Christians will choose Christ first, last, and always.
Love and light can uncreate the darkness spewing from lies and the perversion of the Gospel message. This very evening in Washington, DC, following a church service, Christian leaders and others will proceed to the White House and confess their faith in that message to the political leadership of the United States.
They will hold vigil by candlelight, attesting to the true message of Jesus. I have faith that the light of those candles will stir up out of hard hearts the searing fire of love. It is a love “as strong as death, its jealousy unyielding as the grave.” May it burn “like a blazing fire, like a mighty flame” (Song of Songs 8:6). God’s blessing to all those who love, who keep vigil, who work to uncreate darkness.