When I was a kid, walking down the stairs into a dark basement was not one of my favorite things to do.
In my childhood home if you wanted to turn the lights on in the basement you had to first go down the stairs. When you stepped onto the basement floor you stretched out your arms and walked forward in the darkness until you felt a string touch your arm. You pulled the string, and there was light. I used to whistle when I got to the bottom of the stairs. This was my sure fire technique to chase away anything that may be lurking down there in the darkness.
The other night I had to go behind our home here in Prague. It was dark back there and I realized I was whistling. I didn't like the dark when I was a kid, and to be honest with you I still don't like the dark.
The world can be a dark and scary place. Sherry and I recently visited a memorial to a small village in the Czech Republic that was razed by the Nazi's. Hundreds of the town’s men, women and children were the innocent victims. We walked through the empty land where a village once stood. The darkness was palpable.
As we walked through the memorial Sherry and I talked about our world today. We wondered if it has changed much since the horrific act that took place in this field.
On a daily, hourly, or even minute by minute basis, we are faced with news of wars, death and continued atrocities against women, children and men. The world's financial markets seem to be in turmoil. Even the earth itself seems to be in a state of upheaval.
Have you seen the videos of earthquakes and the mammoth waves that follow swallowing cities, homes, businesses, and people who could not get to higher ground? Have you seen the clips of numerous and rare tornados sweeping splintered paths of destruction as they cross the land. Some blame religion, some blame demagoguery, some blame people and some ask where is God? It’s awful dark out there.
It’s not unlike the days following the death of Jesus when the Christian community was wondering–what is happening and where is God? Following Christ’s crucifixion the darkness was palpable. The community of believers were so afraid that they closed themselves into a room and placed a guard at the door. It was dark and they were afraid. No doubt about it, darkness is a powerful thing. However, faith is greater than darkness.
When I meet people for the first time and they find out I’m a missionary they sometimes don’t know where to go with the conversation. On more than one occasion my new acquaintance will immediately lay the groundwork for the conversation by stating that they are not believers and that they don’t believe in anything. I sometimes follow their lead by stating that they have chosen to put themselves in a difficult place intellectually. It’s impossible not to believe. Even non-belief is a choice to believe in something. It's not "if" but "what" you chose to believe. And then the conversation continues.
No one can escape the fact that we must choose, and I'm not embarrassed to say that I choose faith. When others tell me my faith makes me weak and dependent, I agree with them. The truth is, I was weak and dependent even before I chose faith, and I remain that way even with faith. However, I am not without intellect and my intellectual response is this: one must believe in something. Even non-belief is belief in something. Because I can’t escape belief and I must choose, I choose faith.
One might also say, well of course you choose faith, you are a missionary, a member of the clergy, a pastor, a "religious man." My only answer is, I don’t choose faith because of who I am our what I do, I choose faith because it is faith that places me in a stronger position to truly experience peace and affect the world around me. It is more than just about the hereafter, it is also about the here and now.
I also choose faith because I have seen and experienced the results of the choice to believe in nothing and it is not a pretty sight. Sherry and I live in a former communist country were "no religion" was once a motto of a social experiment espousing the upward spiraling evolutionary expansion of man and his intellectual struggle to survive. One had to deal with the religious question before being accepted into a university program or before obtaining a good job.
In a recent article, a journalist friend of mine states the case better than I can. He talks about how we now know that, contrary to what some choose to believe, the absence of religion does not produce peace and harmony. In his article he quotes John Lennon’s song “Imagine.” The article explains that the people of the former communist block countries have 50 years experience living in a land without religion. Under communism there was no “religion” but there was no peace either. No people living in harmony, no people living as one.
However, there was faith, and that faith made a huge difference in the lives of people. I know many people who suffered for their faith and still they had a peace that was so powerful even the darkness of their situation and the hopelessness of the world did not overtake them. Actually, another John explains it this way. He wrote: "The light shines in darkness, and the darkness can never extinguish it."
I hope you won’t be offended if I say that neither the presence nor the absence of religion brings peace. It’s not a “religious” question, it’s a “faith” question. Faith in Jesus Christ is the beginning of peace.
The peace I’m speaking of is not necessarily the absence of war, but the quiet of the soul–a rest even in the presence of darkness. There is a peace that comes from knowing that something outside of myself is greater than I alone. There is a peace in knowing that someone is more powerful than the forces of this world; a peace that stands up against death and darkness with the strength of a resurrection. A light shines in the darkness and it is so powerful that the darkness cannot overtake it nor extinguish it.
During this Easter holiday, there is no need to face the darkness alone. You can face it with the One who is the light shining in the darkness–a light which the darkness can never extinguish, a light that gives hope and peace to the soul living in a world that seems quite dark. No need to whistle, you just need to choose.
Happy Easter to you and your family. May the joy, peace and light of our risen Lord fill your hearts and lives. For "The light shines in darkness, and the darkness can never extinguish it."
