Tuesday, December 23, 2008

Hope in a dark place

I don't know where you live, but where I live we presently find ourselves in the darkest parts of winter. Sunrise this morning will be at 8:38 am and the sun will disappear again at 4:17 pm.  The cold seeps through everything, and the snow that falls makes even the simple things more difficult. However, I am told by those who know such things that the shortest day of the year, the day with the least light, happened on Sunday, the first official day of winter. So from that day onward now into summer, the days grow longer with more and more light. It doesn't matter how cold it gets or how much more snow is headed our way, the truth is that the sun is giving us more and more daylight.

SunriseThe growing daylight is like hope to me. It's like a promise that spring is coming. Long warm days and short nights are on the way. In fact it really doesn't matter what winter has to throw at us any more, the truth is that the days grow longer and spring and summer are on the way, really.

These quiet mornings of prayer are like that for me too, in a spiritual sense.

It might be dark in my soul, and I may be as lonely as ever. I might be physically or emotionally sick with things coming at me from all sides, but these mornings with God in prayer are a subtle reminder that summer's coming to my spirit as well. Forgive the cliche but as the Son rises in my spirit, there is hope that I can make it through because the truth is that The Day of light and life is coming.

So I am in the office early today, praying.
And today my prayers include you. So remember, today someone prayed for you.

And as I look up from typing this I look out the window and on the eastern horizon the sky is just beginning to lighten and I am reminded of the Hope that is mine.

May He be your hope today as well.


8 comments:

  1. Thanks. I need to remember that too.

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  2. You sound hopeful Randall and that gives me hope as well.

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  3. "The growing daylight is like hope to me. It̢۪s like a promise that spring is coming. Long warm days and short nights are on the way. In fact it really doesn̢۪t matter what winter has to throw at us any more, the truth is that the days grow longer and spring and summer are on the way, really."

    That is the hopefulness that I am talking about.

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  4. Thank you for your prayers - it means a lot. Blessings to you and yours.

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  5. You're starting to sound like Nouwen...

    Jeremy

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  6. thanks for reminding us about that Hope...as sometimes we get lost in the dark...the light is getting brighter i can feel it...
    peace out!

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  7. Gosh we really do live in parallel universes - well parallel posts anyway. "Lighten our darkness, Lord we pray" - and he does !

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