Singing in the Dark

READING Acts 13:26-30

My brothers, it was to us that this message of salvation was sent forth. The inhabitants of Jerusalem and their rulers failed to recognize him, and in condemning him they fulfilled the words of the prophets which we read Sabbath after Sabbath. Even though they found no charge against him which deserved death, they begged Pilate to have him executed. Once they had thus brought about all that had been written of him, they took him down from the tree and laid him in a tomb. Yet God raised him from the dead.

  Now is the time, my friends, to remember that the darkest days can never have a hold on us. We may feel at the end of our rope. We may feel we have nowhere to turn. We may feel that we can not breathe. But our hope lies in the events we recall in these coming days. That faced with death, the event that no one could believe would be overcome, Jesus was put to death for our sins and conquered the grave. Of this we are certain and, despite historians and scientists trying to prove the contrary, no one has proven it did not happen. In fact, some scientists, after examining the shroud, believe that something of great energy took place that left the impression there.
   Hmm. What could that be? Perhaps the power of God? God will never forsake us as long as we have Him on our side. And to have Him with us is simple. Believe. Love. Hope.
  My favorite quote is from The Lord of the Rings trilogy. No, it s not in the insightfulness of Gandalf. It is in the words of one of the ordinary, not necessarily brightest, of characters. Samwise Gamgee. I love Sam, because I think he is a good representation of each of us. Simple at heart. Sometimes failing. But never giving up. Faced with darkness, Sam declares, "It is never so dark that we can not sing!" We celebrate with song the end of darkness and death because of the resurrection. And we must always remember that faced with anything: sickness, poverty, anger, fear, even death itself, we can always sing. Because it can never be that dark as long as the light of Christ's love is in our hearts and warming our souls.