“I have learned things in the dark that I could never have learned in the light, things that have saved my life over and over again, so that there is really only one logical conclusion. I need darkness as much as I need light.”
Barbara Brown Taylor, Learning to Walk in the Dark
This Sunday (September 7) the Summer Book Club will be discussing the book, Learning to Walk in the Dark.
This summer, I chose three books that all have to do with witnessing to the way God moves in our lives, and Brown certainly has a story to tell. In fact, she is very good at telling stories, and the way she tells them allows insights to sneak into your consciousness. And then they stay there. That is what happened to me as I read Learning to Walk in the Darkness.
Like many people, I hadn’t thought too much about “darkness”- except that it was “bad”. It used to terrify me as a kid and I’m not all that crazy about it as an adult. Yet a lot of important things in the Bible take place in the dark. Sometimes “darkness” is associated with evil. Many times, “darkness” is simply the place we fear because it is unknown, unclear, uncomfortable or dangerous. And that is one of the favorite places for God to show up. To God, the darkness isn’t dark; the night is as bright as the day.
Part of faith is entrusting ourselves to God even when (or especially when) things are murky, obscure and beyond what we can understand.
What are some lessons you have learned about God and Life in the darkness?
The discussion starts at noon and we will be done at 1:30. Bring a brown-bag lunch, if you’d like. Even if you don’t finish the book, come and share your insights and your questions!
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