When I was pastoring, the song we processed into every Sunday was “Walk in the Light.” We never sang the whole song, nor do I think anybody knew the whole song, but they liked the rhythm and the notion of walking in the light. For a number of reasons, I have been thinking about this song quite a bit lately. It dawned on me the other day that walking in the light is fairly easy. When the lights are on, we can see details about our surroundings and others that we cannot see when the light is off. When we are walking in the light, we can see the path before us. We can see obstacles in our way. We can see the wide diversity of colors that surround us. We can see things and then associate the scents we are experiencing with them. We can see the signals that the weather is changing in the sky. We can see the clouds forming shapes. We can see flowers blooming, plants breaking through the soil, animals of all kinds feeding themselves and looking for food. We can see the plants and trees responding to the changes in the atmosphere. There is so much we can see when we walk in the light.
However, in our faith journeys and in our lives, there are times we have to walk in the dark. Things are different in the dark then they are in the light. I am very familiar with the house we have lived in for nine years now. When I am moving around in my wheelchair in the light I can see clearly where I am going. I know where to turn to avoid banging into furniture, etc. However, in the dark, I have to be very mindful of where I am and depend on my internal guidance system in a way I do not have to in the light. When I have to crawl out of bed in the middle of the night, I have to take my time backing up and heading out of the bedroom so I do not hit the bed or bang the door. Nothing looks or feels the same in the dark, even that with which you are familiar.
It is in those times when we must walk in the dark that it becomes about depending on that which you know has guided you in the light and in the dark. Perhaps that is why I appreciate Jack Canfield’s analogy about driving in the dark. “A car driving through the night, the headlights only reach 100 – 200 feet in front of the car. But you could make it all the way from California to New York whilst driving in the dark, because all you have to see is the next 200 feet. And that’s how life tends to unfold before us. If we just trust, the next 200 feet will unfold, and the next 200 feet after that and so on. Your life will keep unfolding and it will eventually get you to the destination of what ever it is that you truly want”.{cke_protected_1}[1]{cke_protected_2}
In the light we can see where we are going and have some sense of how we are going to get there. However, in the darkness, we come to realize that the important thing is not necessarily how we reach where we are heading, but more so the decision that we will reach our goal and the faith in the Ultimate to guide us each step of the way. Take the first step, and then the next step will come into your view. When we depend on the Universe to reveal things to us one step at a time, then we can learn to travel in the darkness with the same comfort and faith as we have when we are walking in the light. Perhaps the greatest difference is that in the dark we have to depend on our faith in that which we cannot see, but know is our guiding source and light. Right now, I think I may rewrite the chorus of that song to be about walking in the dark, that beautiful revealing dark.
[1] http://www.goal-setting-guide.com/enjoy-the-ride-the-journey-is-as-important-as-the-destination/