Journey to the Cross

Pause

Be still.

Inhale a breath of love and know that God is very near.

Listen

“This is the basis for judgment: The light came into the world, and people loved darkness more than the light, for their actions are evil. All who do wicked things hate the light and don’t come to the light for fear that their actions will be exposed to the light. Whoever does the truth comes to the light so that it can be seen that their actions were done in God.”

John 3:19-21

Think

There are many kinds of darkness. Sometimes darkness happens suddenly, like when the power goes out in a storm. Sometimes darkness can be a constant state of being, like when someone doesn’t feel safe in their own home or when one group of people holds power over another. Poet Laureate, Amanda Gorman, describes this kind of darkness as “a never-ending shade.”

Those guilty of creating darkness for others do not want to be exposed. Truth threatens an oppressor’s power. So, they hide inside the darkness of self-made false realities.

God’s love calls us to be a bright light in the “never-ending shade.” It calls for truth-speakers and courageous action. God’s Love and Light are available to everyone. But, to paraphrase Amanda again, we have to be “brave enough to see it” and “brave enough to be it.”

Do you know someone who needs to see the light of God’s love in their darkness today? What does that look like? Do you need to see God’s light in your darkness today? It is there to see. It is there to be.

Colleen Burroughs

Pray

Dear Creator of the universe, I am grateful today for the power of light over the darkness and ask for your brightness to shine through my life. May it illuminate whatever is ahead for me on the path. Amen.

Go

Stretch wide your arms to the world.

Exhale peace in the knowledge that the Creator of the universe is as close as your very next breath.