Light in darkening times

		Living the Scriptures  with St. Paul University  Catholic Center  Robert Booth Fowler

Like many other people there are times when I find winter too long, too cold, and far too dark.

Of course, I meet many joys in winter, too: sharing warm times with family and friends or celebrating the peace that a good snowstorm brings. It also includes embracing winter out of doors, which, for me, does mean cranking up the snow blower, yes, but more happily taking refreshing walks on crisp winter days (my skiing days are over, alas).

Second Sunday in Ordinary Time (Jan. 18, 2004) Is 62:1-5 Ps 96:1-2, 2-3, 7-8, 9-10 1 Cor 12:4-11 Jn 2:1-11

The darkness winter brings is simply part of life in Wisconsin, part of every year, inevitable and accepted, if not entirely loved. But it reminds me also of the darkness that once in a while infects my soul as it can even the most upbeat Christians among us. Like winter darkness, this occasional, episodic darkness may be inevitable.

Naturally people's darkness can and does take quite different forms. While few of us escape such darkness entirely, its shadows fall more - and more often - on some rather than others. Sickness, loneliness, failure, rejection, depression, and a sense of God's silence are some too real examples of its myriad forms.

The kind of darkness that occasionally strikes me and that I find the most challenging is the darkness that comes when I am unable to hear or sense God. This is as frequent in my life as winter is in the calendar year, not a constant companion, but hardly a stranger. In fact, most of us who seek God experience or have experienced this darkness.

Whenever this shade of darkness falls on me, however, I recall with pleasure the holy Quaker who shocked me when he once reassured me that he too often could not find the "Inner Light." He gently pointed out that this was just part of the Christian life and was not a sign that God, who is always looking for us, was silent or closed, but that our souls are closed.

I take comfort in his view, since I have no deep theological or doctrinal resources to address such times of darkness. If I have gifts, as Paul reminds us in Corinthians that we all do, mine lie elsewhere.

But I believe in affirming hope in ordinary life and in Christian life. And I try to celebrate that hope in simple ways. I love many hymns, but none means more to me than the simple children's song, "Jesus Loves Me, This I Know." How amazing and wonderful this hope is.

	Reflection questions • How do you experience darkness? • How is Christ a light in your world? • What makes it difficult in your life to experience the light of Christ?

Yet as I read the Bible, I realize that God offers not just love, special as that is. As Isaiah 62:4 reminds us, God declares His deep joy in each of us, however deserved or undeserved that may be.

I hold to that hope, to the incredible words of Isaiah: "For the Lord delights in you." They are light in the moments when I find myself in a dark place in winter or in my spiritual journey. They remind me that Christ is the light of the world, in our world, and in my world. Amen and Hallelujah.

Robert Booth Fowler is a volunteer at St. Paul's and a retired University of Wisconsin professor.

St. Paul's Web site is www.stpaulscc.org

Faith Alive

In a Nutshell How might we respond to the difficulties that accompany our disordered, chaotic world? Ironically, the challenge of this world can be a catalyst for spiritual growth. When experiencing life's difficulties, injustices or chaos, take a lesson from Job: Stay engaged with others and God, and be honest. When we seek God out in prayer, we allow God's kingdom to come into our world. Catholic News Service 3211 Fourth St NE Washington DC 20017 202.541.3250 cns@catholicnews.com	Food for Thought   Does the world as we know it seem chaotic sometimes? People in every age have found their own times particularly difficult. But our times? Rapid social advances of various kinds coupled with actual threats to human well-being can leave us to feel confused and anxious or to feel that events are jostling us about a lot. Some equate "chaos" with "confusion." Some routinely link "chaos" with "conflict." Some see in chaos a symbol of primeval nothingness. Others say that though we don't accept chaos, we can benefit from it. One fear in a chaotic world is that our hearts will get broken -- that factors of chaos (terrorism, for example) will harm us, thwart us. Nonetheless, some insist that times of chaos challenge us not to retreat from our world but to become creative within it, to clarify our values, to grow, to respond to it. Forces in the world give us cause to celebrate. Other forces give us cause to be fearful, angry, combative. Where does all this leave us as Christians -- people whose following of Christ takes place here and now, in this very world? full story   Must the World's Chaos Be Toxic for Us? By Father Frederic Maples, SJ Catholic News Service The Canticle of Zechariah recalls that God swore an oath to our father Abraham "to set us free from the hands of our enemies, free to worship God without fear, holy and righteous in God's sight all the days of our life" (Lk 1:68-79). Are we still awaiting the fulfillment of that promise? We are by no means without enemies nor are we without fear in our post-9-11 world. full story  Spirituality for a Disordered World By Father John W. Crossin, OSFS Catholic News Service We are all acutely aware of international terrorism. We see regular reports on television of bombings and other incidents that kill and injure innocent people in varied parts of the world. This moral chaos often intrudes on us in more ordinary ways as well: full story  Where Is God When Things Go Wrong? By Sister Katherine Howard, OSB Catholic News Service There are no easy answers to what sometimes are experienced as overwhelming difficulties -- on a personal and local level or at the national and international level. God is always here. It is God's nature to be here -- in each present moment as the source of all that is and as the love drawing us into union with God and each other. full story
	Faith in the Marketplace   This Week's Discussion Point: Where is God present in your everyday world?     Selected Response From Readers:
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