"The people who sit in darkness have seen a great light, on those dwelling in a land overshadowed by death light has arisen." // Matthew 4:16
When he was in eighth grade, my son Ethan got lost in the mountains for two hours. It was a winter camping trip with his Boy Scout troop. Up in the treacherous mountains of Tennessee, while racing to the top of a nearby peak, Ethan and his friend Andrew got separated from the pack. The sun went down, and suddenly those two boys were in the pitch-dark, freezing-cold and absolutely alone.
The search crew consisted of all the other Scouts and the chaperone dads, including my husband Paul. They all went out to look for those boys when it was clear they were lost. At one point, Paul told the boys to turn off their flashlights, which resulted in an abject black-out. They could not even see their hands directly in front of their faces.
“This is what Ethan and Andrew are walking in,” Paul said to the boys. This total blackness, cold and dark and up in the mountains near drop-offs and bears.
That image has not left me these years later.
At the time, Paul was relieved there was no cell service on that mountain so I would not find out about any of this until the next day when Ethan and Andrew had been safely found and everyone was on the way home.
But that blackness, that absolute darkness. Wandering around in that for two hours, and then being found. What a relief. What complete joy and freedom.
This is our life in Christ. This is the light we live in!
The people who walked in darkness have seen a great light. We are changed. We will never have to wander in the dark again. A Savior has been sent to us. We are forever in the light.
Are you walking in the darkness? When have you seen a great light?
We are changed. // Rachel Balducci Click to tweet
Rachel Balducci is a writer and speaker and co-host of the Gist on CatholicTV. She has a Masters degree from the Grady School of Journalism at the University of Georgia and teaches at Augusta University and is working on her doctorate in Religion at the University of Georgia. She and her husband Paul have five sons and one daughter and are part of an intentional Christian community in Augusta, Georgia. Find out more about her here.
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