Keep Walking In The Light

         “ God is light, in him there is no darkness at all. If we claim to have fellowship with him yet walk in the darkness we lie and do not do the truth. If we walk in the light, as he is in the light, we have fellowship with one another and the blood of Jesus, his son, purifies us from all sin.” 1 John 1:5-7.

       What a privilege we have to walk in the light of Christ. We all have our dark side where evil desires lurk to tempt us. At times we can have seasons of dark grief when a loved dies, we lose a job, or have a divorce. Our society celebrates the dark violent side of human nature in movies and TV viewing. How can we get in touch with the light of Christ to redeem us from the destructive power of darkness?

I believe we have the choice each day to wake up and follow the light of Christ or to yield to dark influences. If we will value the light of Jesus enough to follow his guidance we will experience being children of the light.

       In the struggle against the control of darkness I pray we all may practice the following:

       To seek a positive attitude of “I can make a difference for good” instead of staying in the rut of complaining and grumbling.

       To look for wisdom and understanding from the Lord instead of practicing the reactivity of clueless folly.

    To give compassion to all people even if we do not agree with their politics or religion, to refuse to hate anyone.

     To accept personal responsibility for my own happiness instead of blaming other people for my problems.

     To do what is right and fair when tempted to take advantage of the weakness of others.

    To forgive others who hurt us by leaving the dark desire of revenge behind.

     To attend to the light of duty for people who need us to be faithful and to refuse to live a selfish and self centered life.

    To affirm the hope of better days as we follow his leadership instead of giving up to the dark feeling of despair.

    To share our truth with courage instead of being paralyzed by the dark fear of failure or rejection.

    To invest in actions of eternal meaning, what really matters, instead of dwelling in the darkness of boredom and cynicism.

    To affirm the mercy and forgiveness of sins and mistakes, instead of giving into the crushing burden of shame and guilt.

    Yes, we can make a conscious choice to turn away from the destructive down ward pull of our dark side and the dark influences of the world. We can walk in the guiding and healing light of Christ.

      I write this with awareness of my dear friend, professor, minister and teacher. John took his own life when he let the darkness of his failure to control his alcoholism pull him down into terminal despair.

How I miss this talented, gentle and compassionate servant of God. His tragic choice to yield to the control of dark guilt and shame snuffed out his light of great service to college students. May we always affirm that the light of Christ's forgiveness and restorative power gives us hope to pick ourselves us and keep doing what is good and right.