GOOD NEWS … HOPE

I heard this quote last week and I cannot stop my brain from ruminating/meditating on it!!

It may contain the most hopeful thoughts any of us have heard for a while in our trauma tragic news saturated culture! It’s easy to feel like darkness is overtaking the world with tragedies, catastrophic disasters, wars, world leaders, drugs, suicides, crime, etc. Most of us feel the darkness broadening, thickening, growing and moving ever closer. Some of us have been victims or know one. Even as a person of faith with hope beyond this world, the darkness is apparent. Draws attention. Saddens our spirits and seems foreboding.

This was a refreshing reminder; a very visual concrete one!

Let this sink deep:

“All the darkness in the world cannot extinguish the light of a single candle.”

St. Francis of Assisi

For a minute, think of it in a physical sense!

Light one candle in a dark room. The darkness cannot cancel out the light! The darkness can’t blow out the candle. Darkness is extinguished by light, not vice versa!! No matter how dark the space, the light will be seen and darkness pushed back!

When you struggle with handling the growing darkness of this world, encourage yourself by lighting a candle. I mean, literally doing it! Physical things ground us in truth. We can theorize and contemplate, but often the physical reminder touches us deepest.

Sit in a room with a lit candle. How does the candle go out? Either it gets to the end of its wick or you blow it out! The darkness is no player in its extinction.

Light shines. It is its essence. Darkness is no match for light. Light wins every time!

Philosophically, even the darkest valley of death cannot quench a flame. It may feel like it, but it can’t. The light the deceased person displayed in life, lives on in our memories and heart. Their love stays with us! Their death does not dismiss the lights they gave us. In fact, I might argue death intensifies their light.

Where did St. Francis get this quote?

From the book of John, in the Bible, chapter 1verse 5 …

“And the light shines in darkness; and the darkness cannot overcome it!”

God defines himself as light and Jesus as “The Light of the world!”

In the theological application, the Bible makes it clear, darkness/evil cannot diminish the light of Jesus! Who He is and why he walked the earth is the message of the ages, forever. Nothing can change the illumination of his light. He conquered sin and death, giving us the hope of eternity where he will rule and reign. Darkness and evil will be banished and no longer be part of our experience.

Thinking of this quote in the theological or philosophical terms sheds even more hope for waning “darkness influenced” spirits.

Some of us may have faith that believes these biblical truths.

Even if you don’t have the same faith base or none at all, the physical truth still holds, providing hope in darkness.

Light a candle and see if it’s true. Darkness flees. It is not capable of sniffing your candle out. Darkness is a temporary situation. It needs only the introduction of one single flame; it disappears!

Guess what?

You can be a light in this darkening world.

Show love, be kind, have compassion, reach out to someone struggling, welcome a stranger, share a smile, speak encouragement, etc.

The simplest acts turn dark moments into flickers of light. They may even ignite a flame of hope!!

Remember, darkness cannot quench one single candle!!
One single candle pushes back a world of darkness!!

That is HOPE, GOOD NEWS!!

I believe, if you accept Jesus/Bible as truth, the Bible explains his light can now shine through us to those around us. We hold hope and light for an ever present darkness around us.

I implore you shine bright, be a hope giver, shine light everywhere you go! Light a million candles!

Did last week bring any hopeful good news to you?

Sitting by a Candle,