I don’t know about you, but it feels like I am stumbling around in the dark a lot. We’re trying to find new ways to work, new ways to connect with friends and family, new ways to be the church, and I’m frustrated with pain of constantly stubbing my toes.
However, I also know that when God created the world and separated the light from the dark, God never said the light was good and the dark was bad. There’s a lot we can learn from the dark, and it is through waiting in the dark that we experience the new dawn.
Several years ago I was on a trip to Yosemite and I got to experience a phenomenon that can only occur in the dark. There was a full moon, and the light from the moon reflected off of the waterfall creating a ‘moonbow.’ Unlike a rainbow, with distinct, clear colors, the moonbow was more obscure, more mysterious, but still amazingly beautiful. The dark and the moon had transformed the rainbow – a sign of God’s promise – into something wholly unique and powerful.
I am reminded that God is still with us in dark times and God’s promise remains, even when things aren’t clear and easily seen. May you use this time of darkness, solitude and uncertainty to find how God is witnessing to you in unique and powerful ways.
As I remain in isolation and recovering from the virus, I have enjoyed looking at the night sky and appreciating the gifts of God that can only be seen in the dark. May this time transform you as only the dark can…
Blessings,
Rev. Melissa Spence, Pastor of Justice and Compassion