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Today's Lenten Devotion
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Light in a Dark World
Again Jesus spoke to them, saying, "I am the light of the world. Whoever follows me will never walk in darkness but will have the light of life."
-- John 8:12
Buffalo, NY. January 28, 1977. The powdery snow had been accumulating for 55 consecutive days, and then a four day blizzard hit with winds up to 70 mph, rearranging the powder into misplaced mountains that suddenly closed off roads, and valleys of clearing that posted no warnings of the dangers ahead. As if someone had dropped a white sheet over my windshield, I may as well have been driving in total darkness with no light at the end of the tunnel. I was as afraid to stop, as I was to proceed. The only incentive to keep driving was an occasional glimmer of a tiny red light ahead. For all I knew, it could have been a traffic light, a building sign…who knows? Praying that it was the tail lights of a car I could follow, I found the courage to get closer, and for a brief second, I caught sight of what was indeed a car, and honey, you better believe, I stayed on his tail, terrified to lose sight of the occasional flicker of light (and life) ahead. Twenty nine others lost their lives, some found frozen in their buried cars.
Every so often, and sometimes through no fault of our own, we end up in dark places where we just can’t see the light at the end of the tunnel. A prolonged illness, a period of extended unemployment, repeated miscarriages, endless fertility treatments, a dead-end job, a mountain of debt. No matter how dark our tunnel seems, or whatever white-out we’re driving through, Jesus, the Light of the World, is always and only just a prayer away. His light is Hope…Hope Eternal! But, we must follow the Light closely, the way we’d hug the tail lights on the car ahead of us in a white-out blizzard.
Lately, I’ve picked up a habit from a friend and mentor, who regularly and emphatically inserts the words "SO THAT ..." in prayers and sermons and even conversations. Now, when I’m in the dark places and I pray to the Light of the World for healing or for a new job (or whatever), I practice adding "SO THAT ..." I too, may shine the bright light of hope for others by telling all that You have done for me.” It adds a powerful wallop to any prayer, and also bears a promise of the precious gift of hope for someone living in the dark places looking for that little flicker of light.
Jesus, Light of the World,
We reach out to you from our dark places. Take our hand and lead us to your light, we pray. Keep our lamps burning brightly, "SO THAT ..." we may shine your light of hope in our troubled world for others to see their way home. Amen.
Linda S. Magill
lindabythesea@yahoo.com
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