"Darkness cannot drive out darkness:
only light can do that.
Hate cannot drive out hate: only love can do that."---Dr. Martin Luther King
Have you ever noticed that you can't turn up darkness. Total darkness is the total absence of light. Think about it, darkness cannot get darker. If you were placed in a room totally devoid of light there is no way to make it darker. Even as the sun disappears beyond the horizon it is not darkness growing darker...it is light growing dimmer. I am no scientist but it would appear, by this logic, that darkness can only get brighter. It gets brighter by adding light.
That was the very point Dr. King was trying to make in the quote at the top of this blog. He eloquently replaces the word "hate" for the word "darkness". I know, with the events of the past week, it seems like the world we are living in has grown even more dark but it really hasn't. We just see it more, experience it more.
Dr. King's words, though eloquent, are not necessarily original. It would appear the Baptist preacher borrowed them from the apostle John. My pastor has been walking us through the gospel of John over the past several weeks and it has revealed some perspective to some of our world's current events.
I love the book of John, written as an eye witness account to Jesus' ministry. John uses the same writing style interchanging the words "life and light", "death and darkness". He clearly illustrates that "Light" and "the Word" = Jesus. "Darkness" = death.
We have seen the darkness played out on our streets, in our schools, in theaters, nightclubs and churches. We see darkness through guns, drugs, racism , terrorism and war. We give lip-service to these issues. We draw political lines that divide us; rather than unite us to resolve the hate. As Dr. King and the apostle John point out, we attempt to fight darkness with darkness....hate with hate. The sad thing is, as flawed human beings we actually want it that way.
"And this is the judgment: the light has come into the world, and people loved the darkness rather than the light because their works were evil." (John 3:19 ESV)
We are a house, a world divided. It is not just Christians vs. Muslims, Black vs.White, Liberal vs. Conservative, Republican vs. Democrat, Believer vs. non-believer or even the United States vs. everyone else. No, we are fighting among ourselves. America is at war with itself and its because we LOVE the darkness!
I read a post that ponders whether this present darkness is due to God's judgement finally being imposed on the United States. I am not equipped to answer that. I do know that the true "adversary" desires to divide, steal, kill and destroy. As a people, it is hard to imagine a time when we have been more divided. It appears that everything is politicized or spun to fit a particular agenda.
That is why we are not able to strike a reasonable balance on almost anything. How can we work together in regard to stopping mass shootings? Is it really unreasonable to want to keep guns out of the hands of bad people? Does my right to own a gun outweigh the lives of those who are victims of firearms violence or accidents. Why is it that some think that "BLACK LIVES MATTER" somehow robs them of the fact that their life matters or that ALL lives matter? Why are we an "either/or society"?
Perhaps it is because it is either/or. John tells us that. Light vs.Darkness, remember?
John also tell us, "So we have come to know and to believe the love that God has for us. God is love, and whoever abides in love abides in God, and God abides in him. (1 John 4:16 ESV)
Borrowing from both Dr. King and from the apostle John, let me offer up a reasonable solution. What I believe is the only solution to our present darkness. Hate cannot drive out hate: only GOD can do that.
Brothers and sisters, take peace in the fact that the darkness cannot and will not get darker. It can't; even though some will try to convince you otherwise. Take rest in the fact that there is Light when it seems there is nothing but darkness. Take heart in the fact that the only direction darkness can go is to the light.
"In him was life, and the life was the light of men. The light shines in the darkness, and the darkness has not overcome it." (John 1:4-5 ESV)
Finally, take joy that Christ is the Light and the darkness will not prevail.
Blessings and thanks for reading!
Jeff
