The Christ in the Dark

A few weeks ago while on a meditative walk, I ended up in a poorly maintained graveyard a few blocks from my house. As I wound between the stones, I was struck by all the memorials that were either leaning over or completely fallen to the ground. I thought of all the people whom these stones memorialized and I wondered if their lives had been forgotten, just as their graves had been. And just as I was getting to the end of these thoughts, I was confronted by the tallest monument in the graveyard. It was a monument, but not to a dead person. It was a monument of the crucified Christ who is now alive. It was in front of that crucifix that I had one of those incredible moments of deep connection with Jesus. After a while I said farewell to the likeness of my Lord. As turned to leave, I noticed something protruding from the ground several feet away. Then I saw another a little farther on. They were two separate floodlight systems, niether of which was working. I had a sudden impulse to stop by the church the next day and give some money to the priest so that the lights could be repaired and relit. I felt it a shame that this tool of worship which had drawn my thoughts to Christ had also experienced the same deteriation as the rest of the graveyard. But then I had another thought. If the statue was lit, I and others who happened here could not stand silent and unobserved in worship. We would instead be standing in the beams of a spotlight. As I thought more I came to realize that our Lord is much like this statue. He is standing above ready and waiting to draw us into worship and communion with the Father, but He is not dancing in the spotlight to attract attention. He is waiting in the shadows for those who are willing to seek Him there. He is not trying to attract us to worship with treats and flashy entertainment, with lights and sound, with celebrative emotions. He is waiting for us to creep into the silent shadows, broken and humble. It is there in the darkness that we can find Him and that He will nourish us with His Love.

The Crucifix in the Graveyard w/ nonfunctioning floodlight illuminated by my penlight

Saving Our Nation’s Moral Foundation-Is it our job?

If Jesus had wanted to cause moral reform, He would have got on the boat with the Pharisees. If any one was moral they were. Instead He rejected their moral actions which were not backed by an inner change. He rejected using their methods and organization for the purpose of coercing people to do right. Instead He called people to an inner change out of which would flow truly good action. It is not our business to try to cause people to do right or to deter moral decline in our nation. We are not to get on the bandwagon with the moral reformers of our day and attempt to use the government’s laws to cause right living and stop immorality and the breakdown of society and the family. We are to call people to love God and their fellow men with all their heart and they will begin to do right as an automatic response.