EDITORIALS AND COLUMNS
MAY 11, 2024
DAVE MYERS
Everyday Faith
Most outdoorsmen have their favorite go-to stories they love to tell, and, if you get a couple of avid outdoorsmen together, the stories can go on and on.
One adventure leads to another, which reminds someone else of another story, which reminds another of their “one time …” story. But, in all my years of sitting around the campfire listening to those stories, I’ve never heard the conversation focus on walking out in the dark or coming back in the dark.
If you want to hunt or fish, it’s just a given that, to get to where you want to go, you’re going to have to meander through the dark woods to get there. People put up reflective tags on trees on the way to their blind to help shine in the dark, but I’ve not once ever heard someone say they enjoy that aspect of the hunt.
As a matter of fact, it’s really easy for the mind to meander, thinking about packs of coyotes, cougars who attack from above and behind you, and wolves who are a real problem for the Upper Peninsula hunters. Walking in or out in the darkness can be a tenuous time.
Before we go any further, let’s just get this question out of the way for the macho hunter out there. “Do you enjoy walking through the woods in the dark?”
The most positive answer I have ever heard to that question is: “It doesn’t really bother me.”
Pause and think about that answer.
“Not minding something” is a far cry from actually enjoying the hike in or out in the darkness. Basically, what you are really saying is that you can handle it.
So what is it about the dark that creates such a pensive feeling?
You can’t see. You really have no idea what’s there or what’s happening around you. Your perception of reality gets distorted. Sometimes, that darkness feels like it’s closing in around you, and it feels heavy or oppressive, and, when a 10-pound porcupine or opossum scampering through woods causes you to stop and perk your ears up, you know your nerves are on end.
And, when you legitimately do run into a pack of coyotes or a bear really is following you to your blind, things get even more intense.
The problem is that you would struggle doing something about a conflict in the dark, and it doesn’t matter how savvy of a hunter you are.
Here’s the deal: That darkness only lasts for a while. There’s nothing better than getting to your blind and seeing a sunrise above the treetops or over the field you might be looking over. That opening light is a magical time, and the woods just seem to come to life!
All of those evils that you were worried about get illuminated, and the concerns get set aside. The coyotes, the cougars, the bears, the wolves … all those dangers may very well still be in the vicinity, but light changes everything.
Not only does the light allow for you to see what’s there, it also warms. I’ve had many mornings in the blind where it’s been brisk upon arriving there, but, as soon as that light appears, it provides a delightful warmth, replacing the shivers you had minutes earlier.
Everything changes in the light.
So, what does that have to do with our faith?
In my recent travels, I kept hearing over and over again from people all across the country that we are living in dark times. What’s right is wrong, black is white, and “no” is “yes”. Things just seem very topsy-turvy, upside down right now.
It is quite apparent that we are seeing a time of potential cultural shifts occurring in front of our eyes. In past years, we’ve relied on various institutions to uphold the Christian values that the Puritans brought with them as they formed this great country, making it a beacon of light for so many across the world.
As believers in Christ, we need to not be taken by surprise by the threatening darkness, and, quite honestly, getting stuck thinking backwards to the past and yearning for the way things were doesn’t help us today at all.
The real question we need to be asking is, “What do we want the world to be moving forward into our future?”
The Bible says in Ecclesiastes 1:9: “What has been will be again, what has been done, will be done again; there is nothing new under the sun.”
Personally, I believe our comforts have lulled us to sleep as Believers. We have become passive in our faith and have assumed others would simply preserve our Christian heritage.
It truly is time for Believers to let their light shine.
We should have been involved in reaching out to our communities all along, sharing the good news of God’s mercy and compassion, but we still do have the opportunity to be a light — right now — today.
But can I really make a difference?
The answer is a resounding, “Yes!”
Don’t just be a flicker. Be firm and resolute in sharing the hope that transformed your own life.
Others need that light in their life, too.
“In him (Jesus) was life, and that light was the light of all mankind. The light shines in the darkness, and the darkness has not overcome it (John 1:4-5 NIV).”
Commentaires