Light in the Darkness
“The light shines in the darkness, and the darkness did not overcome it.” (John 1:5)
This single-sentence verse from the prologue to the Gospel of John could serve as a summary of the events between Good Friday and Easter. Note that there’s acknowledgement of the reality of darkness. It goes all the way back to Genesis 1: “In the beginning when God created the heavens and the earth, the earth was a formless void and darkness covered the face of the deep…” Before there was light, there was darkness.
Darkness also describes times when Israel is distant from God, often accompanied by suffering. “The people who walked in darkness have seen a great light; those who lived in a land of deep darkness— on them light has shined.” (Isaiah 9:2) These words later came to be understood as referring to Jesus. We read them now on Christmas Eve, and we read the prologue to John on Christmas Day or on a Sunday in the Christmas season. Jesus says later, in John 8:12, “I am the light of the world.”
The light of the world is not overcome by darkness. But darkness is still part of the world. My grandmother struggled with depression for much of her life, certainly all the time that I knew her. For most of the year, she could function. But in the spring, the depression would become so severe that she would often end up hospitalized.
We know a lot more about depression and mental health than we did at that time. And it turns out that my grandmother was not unusual in experiencing worse depression in the spring than in the winter. Mental health experts believe that some of this is caused by an increase in seasonal allergies, but much of it comes from seeing signs of life around us (lengthening daylight, trees and flowers awakening, warmer temperatures) but not feeling any better inside. The days may be getting brighter, but they don’t warm or brighten us when we’re depressed.
May is Mental Health Awareness Month in the United States. We’ve been observing this since 1949. Alpine has an active Mental Health Ministry, and will be hosting a forum on Sunday, May 18th between worship services. Our guest speaker…will be presenting on living with and beyond trauma. I encourage you to attend, if not for yourself then for a family member or a friend. We can accompany those who are walking in darkness until the light shines brightly enough that they can see their way.
Grace and Peace,
Pastor Don Wink