Daily Light - June 29, 2011

Daily Light from the Lighthouse

"A city that is set on a hill cannot be hidden."

Matthew 5:14

The traveler steps lightly and breathes faintly as he walks through the forest. The darkness is so strong that it feels as if it is suffocating him; it almost feels like a heavy coat upon his back with its hood wrapped tightly around his face. Trying to see his hand extended in front of him is next to impossible. That makes every step a dangerous one, because he knows there are terrors that lurk in these woods.

He has felt the sting of the darkness upon his flesh. This darkness is very natural to him, but it will never be comfortable. At times, he has tried to make friends with it and welcome it into his life. Those are the times that he was stung the worse. Just when he felt that he could see enough to find his own way, he ignorantly stumbled into a pit. There was no one to help him as he climbed his way out. If only there was some light to show him his way through this dark world.

Then the day came. He noticed through the gloom a pin prick of light. It was small and very faint and seemed to disappear as quickly as it appeared, but it caused something to stir in his soul like nothing had before. He set his face toward the light to discover what it might be. As he drew closer, it grew brighter. In fact it was so bright that he wanted to turn his eyes away from it. Strong light in the midst of heavy darkness is almost repulsive to someone who has only known darkness. The light also revealed some things about him and his surroundings. It showed him how filthy the environment that he walked in was. There were all sorts of beasts and creeping things lurking in the shadows. There were pits all around him that contained the remains of those who had gone before him. Even as he looked at his own flesh, he saw the toll that this darkness and mire had taken on his body. His skin was scaly and grimy and in desperate need of cleansing.

It was then that the light became something that he detested. It was as if the light was judging him in some way. How dare the light reveal him for who he was and cast judgment on his surroundings! Incredibly, he longed for the darkness again. He felt comfortable in that darkness not knowing the things that had been revealed, but now he would always know those things. The revelation of the light would no longer allow him to be ignorant of his surroundings or innocent of his own filth. With this knowledge, he turned and squinted as he looked into the now bright light. He had a decision to make: continue to walk toward the light until all was revealed or walk back into the darkness.

May you choose to walk toward the light today!