{"id":7099,"date":"2021-06-14T17:58:07","date_gmt":"2021-06-14T07:58:07","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/www.stmark.com.au\/Blogs\/?p=7099"},"modified":"2021-06-14T17:58:09","modified_gmt":"2021-06-14T07:58:09","slug":"follow-me-into-the-dark","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"http:\/\/www.stmark.com.au\/Blogs\/follow-me-into-the-dark\/","title":{"rendered":"Follow me into the Dark"},"content":{"rendered":"
<\/div>\n

Follow me into the Dark<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n

By Bethany Kaldas<\/em><\/p>\n\n\n\n

\n\n\n\n

\u2018Now when the Pharisee who had invited Him saw\u00a0this,\u00a0he spoke to himself, saying,\u00a0\u201cThis Man, if He were a prophet, would know who and what manner of woman\u00a0this is\u00a0who is touching Him, for she is a sinner<\/em>.\u201d\u2019<\/p>Luke 7:39<\/cite><\/blockquote>\n\n\n\n

A\nfriend, when she was going through a truly difficult time, once said that she\nthought our friendship was going to harm me. She said she didn\u2019t want to drag\nme into the darkness with her. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

Perhaps\nthere was a little truth to this. Without going into the finer details, I\u2019ll\nadmit I wasn\u2019t unshaken by her struggle. It seems, in a way, darkness is\ncontagious. Hang around someone who\u2019s in its thrall and it will soon ensnare\nyou too. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

What\u2019s\nthe advice we give our children (or the people we serve)? Choose your friends\nwisely. Don\u2019t enter into bad crowds. If you can see that someone else is\nsinning, don\u2019t get too close, or else they might take you with them. Toxic\npeople breed toxicity and sin begets further sin.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

That\nis, perhaps, sound advice to most children. Sound advice generally, to those of\nus who know that, honestly, we would only encourage poor behaviour, or that a\ndark personality is going to weaken our spirit beyond resistance. Being around\npersistent negativity can be genuinely damaging to our health, and there are a\nlot of circumstances where, truly, the best course of action for all involved\nis to step away from the situation. And there are some of us for whom this will\nsimply be too much for us to handle, no matter how great or small the shadows we\nface.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

But\u2026that\u2019s\nnot all of us. We know that. And ideally, it shouldn\u2019t be us. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u2018But many of us do not follow half of this commandment. They rejoice with those who rejoice, but it is hard for them to weep with those who weep. Joy is what attracts them, sadly, not pain, and if they join others in their distress, they quickly get bored and leave, because joining others in pain causes us pain too, that is why they run away from it, while it is beneficial to them<\/em>.\u2019<\/p>Pope Shenouda III, Holy Week Contemplations<\/cite><\/blockquote>\n\n\n\n

In its kindest, sincerest form, this sort of avoidance is spiritual self-preservation\u2014often justified, if we truly know ourselves to be too weak to handle the company of the broken. But in many instances, this comes from a less well-meaning place. Sometimes\u2014although we might not admit it\u2014this comes from a place of social self-preservation. Nobody wants to be friends with a \u2018bad egg\u2019 or with someone who\u2019s always got dark clouds over their head. Being dragged into the darkness doesn\u2019t make getting on in a community any easier. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

It\nhappens in schools, universities, workplaces, social clubs\u2014and, if we dare to\nlook for more than a second, churches. Save for the especially lucky or\nespecially oblivious of us, we\u2019ve all seen this person. We\u2019ve probably all been\nthis person at least once in our lives. Haven\u2019t you ever had a moment where it\nfelt like the world inside your head was crashing down on you? Like all your\nmistakes were tearing you apart, like your heart would never be free of your\nsorrows\u2026and found yourself utterly, despairingly alone? Haven\u2019t you ever found\nyourself sitting in the dark, knowing full well that you are in the valley of\nthe shadow of death, and yet still wishing someone\u2014anyone\u2014had been brave enough\nto keep you company?<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u2018Yea, though I walk through the valley of\u00a0the shadow of death,
I will fear no evil;
For You\u00a0are\u00a0with me;
Your rod and Your staff, they comfort me<\/em>.\u2019<\/p>Psalm 23:4<\/cite><\/blockquote>\n\n\n\n

Christ is the perfect example of someone who walks into the darkness, after those who have been captured by it. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

We say\nthat He rescued His children from death by entering into death itself\u2014He was\nhappy to be deemed a criminal for the sake of reaching those who were captives\nof the darkness. But even before then, who was Jesus spending most of His time\nwith? <\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u2018Now it happened, as Jesus sat at the table in the house,\u00a0that behold, many tax collectors and sinners came and sat down with Him and His disciples. And when the Pharisees saw\u00a0it,\u00a0they said to His disciples, \u201cWhy does your Teacher eat with\u00a0tax collectors and\u00a0sinners?\u201d<\/em>\u2019<\/p>Matthew 9:10-11<\/cite><\/blockquote>\n\n\n\n

It wasn\u2019t the rich, those of great reputation, it wasn\u2019t even the \u2018good\u2019 people, the positive influences in society. Christ specifically, purposefully, sought out the people nobody else dared to go near (sometimes literally). Adulterers who were condemned by society, tax collectors who were abandoned by their community, lepers and the deformed and unpleasant who had been rejected by everyone, even their own families. These were the kinds of people Christ came for. These were the people Jesus followed into the dark. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u2018If you do not carry people\u2019s sins, then carry their suffering. Carry people\u2019s suffering as Christ carried it, who told them, \u2018Come to Me, all you who labour and are heavy laden, and I will give you rest.\u2019 (Matthew 11:28).<\/em>\u2019<\/p>Pope Shenouda III, Holy Week Contemplations<\/cite><\/blockquote>\n\n\n\n

That might seem drastic to us, we might feel too weak for that. Maybe that\u2019s true\u2014you personally might not be able to go that deep into the shadows. That\u2019s something only you can know. But there are some dark spaces that I, with a fair amount of confidence, can say that most of us are able to enter into\u2026we simply don\u2019t. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u2018I have learned now that while those who speak about one’s miseries usually hurt, those who keep silence hurt more<\/em>.\u2019<\/p>C. S. Lewis<\/cite><\/blockquote>\n\n\n\n

Depression, anxiety, poverty, grief, loneliness\u2014you know at least one person who has been captured by some form of darkness. You know someone on whom the sun seems to have set and they sit, alone, in a night without stars, without light. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

It\u2019s\nuncomfortable. It\u2019s scary. We don\u2019t like hanging around these people\u2014we can\nfeel the dark on them, the shadows reek like death. And we\u2019re scared they\u2019ll\ninfect us. Darkness is contagious, after all. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

But it\nis also self-perpetuating, and left alone, it grows and grows, like a parasite\nfeeding on the life of a broken heart. The more the darkness grows, the fewer\npeople dare draw near, the worse it gets. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

It\nsounds\u2026almost unstoppable, like that. Something that eats and eats and gets\nbigger and bigger until there is nothing left of that soul but a husk. What\nhope do we have? Darkness looks impossible to beat when you\u2019re in it. It looks\nimpossible to defeat when you\u2019re alone. But the thing about darkness is that\u2014no\nmatter how much of it there is\u2014it only takes a little bit of light to dispel.\nEven just one other soul is enough to chase shadows away. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u2018Compassion\u00a0asks us to go where it hurts, to enter into the places of pain, to share in brokenness, fear, confusion, and anguish.\u00a0Compassion\u00a0challenges us to cry out with those in misery, to mourn with those who are lonely, to weep with those in tears. …\u00a0Compassionmeans full immersion in the condition of being human<\/em>.\u2019<\/p>Henri Nouwen, You are the Beloved: Daily Meditations for Spiritual Living<\/cite><\/blockquote>\n\n\n\n

But what then, you may ask? So, I can follow you into the dark, but I am no healer. I can forgive no sins, I can redeem no souls, I can cast no demons from your heart. I am not Christ. Who am I to think I could help you?<\/p>\n\n\n\n

It may\nbe true\u2014maybe you can\u2019t heal them. You probably can\u2019t solve all their\nproblems\u2014or any of them. Maybe you can do nothing for them. But you can be\nthere. Christ\u2019s ministry was not only in healing illnesses and forgiving\nsins\u2014part of it was simply showing people that there was still hope, that they\nwere still loved, that they were worth following into the dark. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u2018Blessed are the merciful, for they shall obtain mercy.’ These men without possessions or power, these strangers on Earth, these sinners, these followers of Jesus, have in their life with him renounced their own dignity, for they are merciful. As if their own needs and their own distress were not enough, they take upon themselves the distress and humiliation of others. They have an irresistible love for the down-trodden, the sick, the wretched, the wronged, the outcast and all who are tortured with anxiety. They go out and seek all who are enmeshed in the toils of sin and guilt. No distress is too great, no sin too appalling for their pity. If any man falls into disgrace, the merciful will sacrifice their own honour to shield him, and take his shame upon themselves<\/em>.\u2019<\/p>Dietrich Bonhoeffer, The Cost of Discipleship<\/cite><\/blockquote>\n\n\n\n

We can\u2019t do much. We\u2019re only human\u2014and deep inside, we\u2019re all quite broken ourselves. We\u2019re all fighting our own shadows. But we don\u2019t have to do it alone. He never let us do it alone. He\u2019s been in every battle you\u2019ve ever fought, He\u2019s followed you into the deepest and darkest valleys. You may not have seen Him, but He was there, every time. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u2018If I ascend into heaven, You\u00a0are\u00a0there;
If I make my bed in\u00a0hell, behold, You\u00a0are there.\u2019<\/em><\/p>Psalm 139:8<\/cite><\/blockquote>\n\n\n\n

It\u2019s uncomfortable, it will probably hurt, and at times, it may not seem like your presence does very much. But one light is enough to stave off the shadows, even just a bit. And there are times where that\u2019s all someone may need. So don\u2019t let them fight the dark alone. Remember that He\u2019ll be by your side there, too.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u2018Do not rejoice over me, my enemy;
When I fall, I will arise;
When I sit in darkness,
The\u00a0Lord\u00a0will be\u00a0a light to me<\/em>.\u2019<\/p>Micah 7:8<\/cite><\/blockquote>\n\n\n\n

<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Follow me into the Dark By Bethany Kaldas \u2018Now when the Pharisee who had invited Him saw\u00a0this,\u00a0he spoke to himself, saying,\u00a0\u201cThis Man, if He were a prophet, would know who and what manner of woman\u00a0this is\u00a0who is touching Him, for she is a sinner.\u201d\u2019 Luke 7:39 A friend, when she was going through a truly … Continue reading “Follow me into the Dark”<\/span><\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":3,"featured_media":7100,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_monsterinsights_skip_tracking":false,"_monsterinsights_sitenote_active":false,"_monsterinsights_sitenote_note":"","_monsterinsights_sitenote_category":0,"footnotes":""},"categories":[3],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-7099","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-blog"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"http:\/\/www.stmark.com.au\/Blogs\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/7099","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"http:\/\/www.stmark.com.au\/Blogs\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"http:\/\/www.stmark.com.au\/Blogs\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/www.stmark.com.au\/Blogs\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/3"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/www.stmark.com.au\/Blogs\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=7099"}],"version-history":[{"count":1,"href":"http:\/\/www.stmark.com.au\/Blogs\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/7099\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":7101,"href":"http:\/\/www.stmark.com.au\/Blogs\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/7099\/revisions\/7101"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/www.stmark.com.au\/Blogs\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/7100"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"http:\/\/www.stmark.com.au\/Blogs\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=7099"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/www.stmark.com.au\/Blogs\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=7099"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/www.stmark.com.au\/Blogs\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=7099"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}