I learned a few things in the great shadowy times of my life. Times of pain and angst squeeze tightly and before my eyes appear blood-stained truths. Truths I can no longer deny. But the greatest truth I grasped on these night journeys is that darkness itself is not a teacher. Darkness sheds no light.
But God.
I hear people say, and I believe I have said it myself, that they are grateful for their hard times because they learned something important. I did, but not from the negative. Negative only drains deeper into negative. My redemption comes only from something redeeming, something Good. It can never come from the negative itself.
When I nearly drown in the ocean, it wasn’t the fear or desperate struggle for life that led to illumination. Drowning is futile, it leads to death. There is no good in it. But all at once, when I found myself grasping a rock on the jetty, my eyes could see, my mind could understand. It is only God’s hand, God’s light, God’s everything which brings clarity and redemption.
There is no light, no understanding lingering in the dark, in worldliness, in self. Dives into the pits of hell for insight are not, quite literally, a viable option. I must join the ones immersed in God’s light. He has shown me how, He has put my feet on solid ground. This is where I learn—in His light, by His light.
What then, brothers? When you come together, each one has a hymn, a lesson, a revelation, a tongue, or an interpretation. Let all things be done for building up. 1 Corinthians 14:26
Meeting God at the Park 