At the end of Chapter 7 of The Attentive Life, Leighton Ford tells a story from the life of Jerry Sittser (A Grace Disguised), who lost his wife, 1 daughter, and mother instantly when the car in which the 3 were traveling was hit head on at 85 miles per hour by a drunk driver. One night Jerry had a dream in which the sun was setting and he frantically was chasing after it toward the west, hoping to catch the sun and bring it back. But his effort proved futile. The sun was gone and darkness closed in.
Not long after that Jerry’s sister commented that the quickest way to reach the sun is to head east, to fully move into the darkness until sunrise is reached. Jerry explains his sister’s counterintuitive insight:
“I decided from that point on to walk into the darkness rather than try to outrun it, to let my experience of loss take me on a journey wherever it would lead, and to allow myself to be transformed by suffering rather than to think I could somehow avoid it.”
The love of Christ, which surpasses all human knowledge, provides the foundation for our journey, as Alexander Whyte describes:
“The love of Christ has no border: it has no shore, it has no bottom. . . . We shall come to the shore, we shall strike the bottom of every other love, but never the love of Christ.”
Today’s question: What are ways Jesus can help us walk into the darkness? Please share.
Tomorrow’s blog: “When evening descends”
