Dark or Light

On a dark and clear night, a man was traveling with many children down a rural unlit highway, on his way to a retreat center, for a youth filled weekend. The long stretch of highway ascended up the rolling hills of Kentucky and descended down the other side, driving up the peaks and down the valleys. The night, even though early in the evening, was especially dark, being late fall, with no gas stations or stores along the roadway; dark and lonely yet loud with the voices of youth ringing throughout the van.

The van was filled with joyful voices of youth one minute and fearful excitement the next, as smoke began to billow from under the van, filling the valleys with what appeared to be fog in the blackness of night. The needle reading the vehicles temperature quickly reaching the red of being overheated, and then surpassing the red mark and screaming to the driver, “I’m dying, pull over”. But the man behind the wheel continued to force the van forward, searching for a safe haven for the van to die and the children to be safe.

No such haven was in sight, no gas stations, no quick stops, no nothing, just the worry of the man inside and the quiet of the children, attempting to squelch the stress that grew as hot as the vans engine. Unspoken prayers arose in the quiet of the van. Then, to the right, in the distance, a light lit the top of a steeple, the base under the steeple unseen in the darkness from the highway. Forcing the dying beast up the hill to a road on the right, the man turned the overheating smoking vehicle down a darker road, down another mile, following the lit steeple, into a church parking lot, pulling to the side, the once faithful blue machine taking its last breath.

The excited youth jumped from the van, expressing excitement and joy in touching the black ground beneath. The man finally reached other travelers, who eventually found them, and arrived to help. More youth jumped from other vans, joining the original stranded. The church building was open as musicians prepared for the worship ceremony in two days. All were blessed by the use of bathrooms, candy, and water. The youth, as youth do, saw the opportunity around them, and quickly seized it, grabbing a football and turning the blacktop parking lot into a football field, easily allowing the excitement of the journey to pass, embracing the current new memories and doing what comes natural; playing.

Like the youth on this journey, and the ones who later joined, perception and interpretation are of those who see it, who hear it, who experience it. And the question arises, as it does in all of our adventures, what did you experience, what was your perception of what your senses experienced? Are you focusing on the troubles of the journey or the safety that surrounded the van and the travelers? Is your focus on the fear of the adventure or the excitement of the travel? Are you cueing in on negativity of the dark, the smoke, the fear, the cost of the dead van, or are you seeing the blessing of the far away light, the engine that refused to quit, the man who fought for the safety of the children, the open sanctuary of the church in the middle of nowhere, the make shift football game, the adventure in the eyes of youth?

Life is so much like this man’s travel down a dark and unknown highway. So many turns and curves and peaks and valleys, uncertainty and hope and promise and joy and fear and on and on and on. I challenge you my friend and reader to begin to question how you perceive the world around you. Ask yourself if you embrace the journey or curse the roads. Do you see the darkness or the light? God provides the light in our lives if we are willing to turn our eyes from the darkness of this world, even when all around us is dying and falling apart. I encourage you, my friend and reader, to look for the light of God, especially in the blackness of night.


(The writings in this post are random thoughts and observations and are NEVER intended as professional or personal advice. Take what works and leave the rest. For information on mental health and/or substance abuse help, visit http://www.rodneyvalandra.com and refer to the links page.)