“The light shines in the darkness, and the darkness did not overcome it.” These are familiar words to many of you. They come from the opening verses of the Gospel according to John. They are words of great comfort and consolation in time of trouble. When the events of today’s Gospel occurred, Jesus knew that his disciples were about to enter a phase of their lives in which it would seem like the darkness wasovercoming the light. This phase would begin with Jesus’ arrest. We can identify with their condition. We have all experienced some phase of life when it felt like the darkness was overcoming the light. Maybe you are experiencing such a condition right now.
The ever compassionate Jesus wanted to offer the leaders of his disciples a vision that could carry them through this time. All the imagination of Heaven was brought to bear for the purpose of convincing these disciples that they would not be alone in this or any other trouble. Before their very eyes, the disciples saw Moses, the forbearer through whom God’s gift of the law had been given, and Elijah, the greatest of the prophets (in the estimation of the Hebrew story-tellers). Their presence signaled that the disciples’ forbearers were not simply personalities of the past, but rather were active and on the job, supporting their cause. Their energy could be counted upon. The dazzling white of Jesus’ countenance unmistakably pointed back to the blinding countenance of Moses when he returned from his own mountain-top experience. It was the marker of God’s presence; the marker of God’s encounter with the here and the now of life on this earth. And then, to put an exclamation point upon it all, the exact same words came from Heaven that were spoken at Jesus’ baptism: “This is my Son, the Beloved.” The utterance did not stem from a single “fly-by.” God was still in the picture. A postscript was added, “Listen to him!” Perhaps that was a hint as to how we might best experience God’s presence in our histories.
Every possible resource of sight and sound was used to convince the disciples that they would not be alone in what was about to befall them. Heaven didn’t want them to miss the point. And what happened? They missed the point. As soon as Jesus was arrested, they each felt horribly alone. That provided fertile soil for fear, and fear sent them running in every direction, exacerbating their aloneness. There’s one piece of good news in this: at least when we struggle to fully absorb God’s promises, we know we have good company! Lent is the church’s annual gift to us, affording encouragement to give our full energy to absorbing God’s assurance that we are not alone. Some people think of it as a somber time, but it is an invitation to life. The word “Lent” comes from a root word meaning “Spring;” this gives a sense of emerging new life.
I want to offer you two pictures that you can use as reference points during your Lenten journey this year. The first comes from a Bluegrass song made popular by Hank Williams, called “Pictures from Life’s Other Side.” Every verse tells a tale of woe, and these are the words from the end of the chorus: Some poor old mother at home, watching and waiting alone, longing to hear from her loved ones so dear, that’s a picture from life’s other side.
The second is a contrasting picture. It was given to me about six weeks ago when I took my post-Christmas break and was driving just north of Morro Bay. I saw a sign along the side of the road near Cambria that read, “Everybody Loves Coastal Union Granny.” What might that be about? The next day I drove by the same location a little earlier, since I had found a dog park just a ways past the sign. It was during Cambria’s version of rush hour, which means two cars were in view at the same time! As I got close to the sign, I saw someone sitting next to it. As I passed, I saw this was a very old woman who was quite wrapped up to gain protection from the chill. She had a knit had, a knit scarf, a warm coat, and an afghan over her lap. As each car went by, she waived energetically and gave a big smile. Each car gave a friendly “toot, toot” back. She was obviously brightening their day.
When I got to the dog park, I asked folks there about what I had seen. They said, “Of course! That’s Coastal Union Granny.” They explained that the local high school is named Coastal Union. Some time ago, the gal I saw by the road had decided to become a booster for every sporting event at the school. She goes to the games whether the team has a winning season or a losing season; she goes to the games whether it’s Varsity or JV; she goes whether its boys or girls; she goes whether she understands the game or not. Every single kid who goes out for any sport at Coastal Union High School can count on having a booster: Coastal Union Granny.
Do you see what Coastal Union Granny has done? She has transfigured herself and everyone around her. And she accomplished that feat in a very simple way. Instead of being some poor old mother at home, longing to hear from her loved ones so dear, she just redefined who her loved ones so dear are. She made every kid at the high school and every person who drives down Cambria Main Street at 8 AM one of her loved ones so dear. I got to be one of her loved ones so dear.
This Wednesday is Ash Wednesday, the beginning of Lent. We place ashes on our foreheads to remind us or our mortality. Some people find this morbid and depressing, but it has a Heavenly purpose. It is an invitation to turn our focus from fleeting things to eternal things, to ever more fully experience the light of God’s enduring love and reflect it for others. We must not stop our quest until we and all those around us fully experience that the light shines in the darkness, and the darkness did not overcome it.