Walking through the darkness feels like the weight of a hundred unanswered prayers pressing down. Ever noticed that life marches on even as time just seems to stand still in the dark? And haven’t we all been walking and yet standing still for a while now?
We’ve been walking through this collective struggle, step by step, for nine months now. Walking forward even as we don’t know where we’re going or which way safety lies. Each of us taking steps forward in the blinding darkness of unprecedented times.
Following a rope in the dark, hand over hand, step after step, darkness begins to shift. And we remember again, the darkness always shifts.
The infinite life of God Himself took shape before us (1 John 1: 2 MSG)
Tradition says we light the candle in the middle last. But not this year. Who doesn’t need a beacon this year? Don’t we all need a little direction? A place to go?
And suddenly we know where we’re walking. Months in the dark only serve to make the light more brilliant. The darkness is a Holy Night and He is leading a mourning, weary world to rejoicing.
We’re walking to Bethlehem.
We get to hold in our hearts what Mary kept close as she carried the Hope of all the world inside herself. The sweet joy of the secret.
Darkness is only a chapter in the story
Step by step in the dark, the ending is taking shape before us.
It is a season of learning to trust a little more and keep pressing forward, one little step at a time.