Running in the Dark

Late yesterday afternoon, Anna invited me to go for a run with her on the trails behind Jason's parents' house.  The sun was definitely on its way down, but we made it back to the house before it was pitch black.  I loved following Anna on a trail that she found the day before, and I had to pay much more attention to the trail for my footing as it was getting darker by the minute. 

It reminded me of a book I read a few years ago called Learning to Walk in the Dark by Barbara Brown Taylor.  Here are a few quotes from it: 

“I have learned things in the dark that I could never have learned in the light, things that have saved my life over and over again, so that there is really only one logical conclusion. I need darkness as much as I need light.”

“...new life starts in the dark. Whether it is a seed in the ground, a baby in the womb, or Jesus in the tomb, it starts in the dark.”

“Even when light fades and darkness falls--as it does every single day, in every single life--God does not turn the world over to some other deity...Here is the testimony of faith; darkness is not dark to God; the night is as bright as the day.”

“Instead, I have learned things in the dark that I could never have learned in the light, things that have saved my life over and over again, so that there is really only one logical conclusion. I need darkness as much as I need light.”

There's a lot of metaphors with darkness and light I could write about, but for now, just know that this run prompted me to pray for God's light to shine in the darkness for you, and for you to know God is with you through it all.