“I was once blind but now I see.”
Some years ago, I was in Colorado,
climbing one of the 14,000 foot high mountains;
you might remember from one of my other stories,
we have to leave for the climb really early in the morning,
because you have to get off the peak by noon
to avoid the lightning strikes.
We went to the trailhead about 4:00 a.m. in the morning
to get there in time so I was in complete darkness.
Unfortunately, my brother was not able to travel with me that morning
because of a conflict at work or something.
He gave me some very explicit instructions to go to the trailhead.
He had been there a number of times before
so he knew what he was talking about
and he gave me very specific instructions.
He said, “Look Brendan, when you get there,
it’s a good road but only go past the first gate and the second gate.
Just after the second gate, there is a turn around. Stop here.
Don’t go to the third gate, no matter what!”
So I had that in mind as I was driving in the dark of night.
I get to the road expecting some treacherous road
but the road was perfect, and it was straight as an arrow.
There were no bumps even on the road!
Normally the roads are really rough
and we need all-wheel drive to get anywhere.
I got to the first gate.
Get past the second gate and I’m thinking
“I wonder why he said that
I have to just past the second gate
where there was just this little turnaround”;
and I remember his words
“DO NOT GO PAST THE SECOND GATE.”
So, I decide all right I’ll turn around.
My brother told me to turn the car around
and make sure your car is pointed downhill along the upside hill.
All very strange of my brother to be so exact.
I said, okay I’ll do that.
I did that. I parked the car and I went hiking up for the day.
It’s a lovely trail; past the second, the third gate, the fourth gate;
there was a fifth gate, a lovely road; all the way up.
To make a long story short, I do the hike,
come back down and on the way back down,
I get to the road the fifth gate
and I realize why my brother had told me this.
There was a 1,000 foot cliff on this side
and a 1,000 foot cliff on the other side.
The road was super narrow, about the width of this aisle way;
and that is all there was.
I never was able to see how treacherous it was in the dark
because the headlights of my truck
were on the road in front of me and it was perfect and straight.
Yeah, straight along the edge of a cliff!
Here is what is strange; when I got into that car to drive downhill,
there was chaos coming down
because all the people now trying to turn their cars,
knowing that there is the edge of a cliff right there, they couldn’t turn.
They were terrified.
I was terrified driving straight down;
and it took me one hour to go down
when it took me only 10 minutes to go up
because I was afraid I was going to go off the cliff.
Why do I bring that up?
It’s because sometimes darkness can be your friend.
I didn’t see the danger, so I wasn’t afraid of it.
I only saw what was straight in front of me,
which was lighted by my truck on the road,
and which was the road straight ahead of me.
I was safe. And that was all I needed to know.
Darkness can be your friend.
Now, why do I say that?
It is because in our own lives,
darkness often comes into our life.
And darkness can focus our attention on what is important.
We see only what is essential and in front of us.
We have sickness.
We have ill health.
Or even death in our family.
Or, we have things happen in certain situations in our family,
extended family, or at work;
and it seems like the darkness crawls into us.
It rolls in on us and it focuses our attention on what is essential.
That can be a good thing even though it is painful.
St. John of the Cross says,
“We walk in the midst of darkness
with only the light of faith in our heart,
which shines the light on the step in front of us and no more.”
It is the same sense that I have enough light for just one step or two.
And that is all I need because I only need to walk one step at a time.
When we are in the middle of difficulty and darkness in our lives,
the light of faith keeps us on the right path.
The light of faith keeps us safe.
The light of faith keeps us in just enough light
so that we can be where we need to be, on the essential.
That is true, but it is not always easy to live that.
In today’s readings, we hear all about the darkness and the light.
In the second reading today,
we hear all about the light in the darkness.
It is Christ, the light of the world that shines in the darkness.
Then in John’s gospel we have layers and layers,
so we can break it open in multiple ways.
The irony of it is that those who are in darkness are those who can see.
The one who actually cannot physically see.
can actually see Jesus for who he really is
because he sees with his spiritual eyes.
He sees with the light of his faith of his heart.
And it is enough to keep him safe.
What we must do is somehow realize
that the gift of faith that is within us,
the gift of faith that is inside of our hearts
that has been given to us is the gift of light in the world.
And Jesus was that light in the world.
Jesus says in today’s reading
that he was the light of the world while he was in it.
And when he is not, then you and I are the light of the world.
You and I are called to be that light to shine that light in front of us
but also to shine the light in front of other people’s pathway
in the midst of their darkness.
Sometimes that is what we are called to do.
There is enough light to shine on the path right in front of them.
And that is all they need; or we need.
Today, we are going to be doing the second Scrutiny,
which is part of the journey to becoming Catholic.
That word “scrutiny” comes from the same root word as scavenger;
like a dumpster diver scavenger.
What are we dumpster diving for; what are we scrutinizing?
We are coming to grab those valuable things in our faith;
in the midst of all the other darkness
we are called to grab that one piece of light and to hold onto it
because that is the light we seek for them but also for ourselves.
What is it that helps us keep the faith?
I hope that coming here is one part of it.
But it must be more than just coming here.
It must be more than receiving Jesus.
It must be about becoming Christ to others;
that we become the light of the world for others.
We become the body of Christ broken for others.
That is what we promise to do when we come here.
So today, as we receive the Christ, the light of the world,
we also promise to become the light of the world to others.
We realize that in the midst of darkness,
the darkness can sometimes be our friend
but that the light inside of our hearts is enough to light up
the way for all in the path.
And sometimes we need to be that light for others.
“I was once blind but now I see.”
