Singing in the Darkness
...When they had sung a hymn, they went out to the Mount of Olives...Then Jesus went with his disciples to a place called Gethsemane...” Matthew 26:30,36
Following the intimate dialogue in the upper room, Jesus and his followers walk into the dark night of suffering, and the scripture says they go out singing.
On this night everything the disciples know and love about Jesus is about to change. The Giver of life and hope, the Conqueror of sickness and death, is now himself deeply distressed and troubled. The free-spirited man who calls no place home and journeys through the countryside preaching from hilltops or fishing-boat pulpits will be bound and taken away from them.
On this night, he spends so much time praying for his followers, and even for himself. His words spoke of fulfilling his purpose established at the beginning of time when darkness first covered the face of the deep and where the Spirit hovered over emptiness, separating light from darkness, fullness from emptiness, and life from nothingness.
So too, we experience day and night, fullness and emptiness, gain and loss throughout the seasons of life. We may stumble in the dark when death and loss take us by surprise, or weariness and demands confound us. But always Christ goes with us, prepares the way for us, his Spirit and his words swirl like light around us, “I will not abandon you...remember me...peace I leave with you...your sorrow will turn to joy...your joy will be full...take heart, I have overcome the world.”
And these words become our song in this present darkness, our hymn of praise as they begin to create new faith, hope, and love within us.
Jesus, I cannot see into the days ahead, nor would I want to.
Here and now is the only time to sing and celebrate the fact that
you walk with me every step of the way.
Help me see today that the joy or sorrow, the emptiness or fullness,
the loss or gain all lead me to you
and your creative way of making me new.
Let me sing and hear your song wrapping itself around my darkness.
For your Reflection:
When or where have you experienced a dark days in your life?
How do such days impact you emotionally, physically, spiritually?
What would it mean to you to go out into this dark season singing a familiar song of comfort?
