It’s easier with the lights on.
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The downstairs bedroom of my childhood home was by far the darkest room in the house, which made it a brilliant place for hiding when playing hide and seek in the dark with my parents and five siblings.
It was a great place to sleep too.
However on just a handful of occasions I can remember my parents walking into the room early in the morning and switching the lights on suddenly.
The sudden change was initially uncomfortable as my eyes worked quickly to adjust. But in just a few moments the light was bearable and no longer hurt my eyes.
Sometimes I have allowed myself to drift off into spiritually dark places. What often starts as apathy in the fundamental faith building activities of prayer and scripture has at times evolved into disobedience, sin and spiritual darkness.
Why would I want to sit for any period of time in spiritual darkness? It seems odd.
I think in some ways we sit in it because like the darkness of a room can hide the mess and disorder of it, so too spiritual darkness can hide some of our uglier sides from ourselves.
This mess that’s hidden in darkness only creates faux feelings of pleasure and satisfaction. Eventually we start to hate stumbling in the dark over the ‘hidden’ messes.
It is only by turning the spiritual light back on that we begin to see ourselves clearly and like a messy room, a messy life is much easier to clean and organize in the light.
There’s no escaping the discomfort that occurs as spiritual darkness is ripped away by the majestic light of Christ and his truth, but I have learned that if I allow myself to stay in the light just long enough to adjust, it ceases to be an irritant and quickly turns to joy.
Christ for me is the light by which I see myself, others and the world around me. And the brighter I keep that light, the more clearly I see it all.
