Monday, April 14, 2008

Night creeping in......and reasons to rejoice

Last night as our little family was driving home from my parents, Kiersten remarked that the clouds in the sky looked like night was creeping up on us. I've really been thinking about that today...night creeping in. Night brings darkness, to some of us, it's a scary thing, but it also brings promise of daybreak. I think about the time when Christ was crucified, there were three days of darkness where no light could be seen at all, how terrifying! But, to those that had listened to the prophets there was a knowledge that all would be well. On one of our vacations to the West, we went to Lewis & Clark Caverns in Montana and at the end of the tour, the tour guides shut off the lights. That's how I imagine total darkness, not a glimmer of light from any source.

As I was thinking about the night creeping in, I remembered something I had read in Jayne's blog a few months ago that morning always comes. This "night" could be seen as spiritual darkness, emotional darkness or actual night and darkness. The spiritual darkness that we are sometimes engulfed in is as dangerous as actual darkness-you stumble and trip and lose your way if you don't have an anchor. Remember about Lehi's vision? The most frightening part of that for me was the mists of darkness where people got lost and were separated from the ones they loved. Emotional darkness is just as debilitating I would think. Think about those scriptures that are written that someone was sorrowing in spirit or low in spirit. How many people in today's world are touched by depression or other illness where their spirit is low. Physical darkness itself is something more temporal but can still be "spun" to have a gospel message-72 hour kits! When the lights went out at our house a few weeks ago, we dug into the 72 hour kits and there they were-handy dandy lights and both Mike and I remarked how grateful we were for those little break and shake lights.

But in the midst of the darkness, the morning comes, first as those few purple rays that bleed gradually to pink and then a beautiful sunrise. As Jayne's blog said, the morning always comes and there is reason to rejoice. I love the morning when the day is new and there is something to look forward to even if it's just watching the sun rise or hearing birds sing. What a wonderful thought it is to rejoice in the knowledge that my Father in Heaven loves ME, Jesus Christ bore MY sins and loves ME still, even though I do wrong and fall. We truly have reasons to rejoice.

2 comments:

Connie said...

Thank goodness we do have light in the darkness! There are many forms of darkness as you mentioned and there are many forms of light. We just have to hold onto the light!
Thanks for an inspiring post for my not so inspiring morning.

Anonymous said...

I enjoyed reading this and have been thinking about light a lot lately. Remember the conference speaker who spoke briefly about shining a flashlight up next to your palm? That really made me think!

I also enjoyed your comments about the three days of darkness when Christ was crucified. They reminded me of something I once read about going through a time of despair, doubt, or depression. The writer (Marianne Williamson) said that we should hang in there because after three days, things will be fine again. She meant it in a figurative day, and yet she compared it to what Christ had to endure. I often think of that and say to myself, "You can do this. It's just three days."