“By God’s design, every day contains (roughly) twenty-four hours, which means that faith in God is to be lived out during both the day and the night. . . . Even so, we still are reticent to respect the night spiritually. We prefer faith in full sun. We prefer to see clearly, to know much, and to walk confidently into a well-lit future.”- Alicia Britt Chole
“[Jesus] said, ‘I am the light of the world. Whoever follows me will never walk in darkness but will have the light of life.”- John 8:12 (NIV)
In Chapter 2 (“Night-Faith”) of The Night is Normal, Dr. Alicia Britt Chole states that Jesus interrupted her atheistic world during her freshman year in college. Above all, Dr. Chole stresses, the idea of meeting God most certainly never originated with her.
However, as Dr. Chole describes, an especially nice, yet “wearisome” Christian kept inviting her to church. Finally, the author said yes – just to keep the woman quiet. And to Dr. Chole’s surprise, in about ninety minutes she transformed from There is no God to Oh my God!
Eventually, Dr. Chole realized that Jesus’ promise in John 8:12 meant that God’s light would never, ever vanish. Not that God would banish darkness everywhere. Therefore, Jesus promised the companionship of His light during each day and through every night. Thus, Jesus’ promise carries great significance. Because we tend to believe spiritual growth prefers one over the other. Hence, we tend to forget that both night and light form part of God’s creation.
In conclusion, Dr. Chole observes, on a physical level we possess a rather long history of efforts to eliminate, or at least shorten, the night. As a result, with candles or clicks, every age desired to make the night bow to its perceived need. The need for more light and less darkness.
Most significantly, Dr. Chole encourages:
“In hindsight, God was inviting me into night-faith. And though I never could have anticipated it, night-faith would soon lead me into something more satisfying than understanding and far more powerful than peace.”
Today’s question: What draws you to prefer faith in the full sun? Please share.
Tomorrow’s blog: “Disillusionment challenges”
