"The Paradoxical Power of Darkness To Clarify the Truth"

Mother Teresa's decades-long "dark night of the soul" is well-known now, having been widely reported on in the news. John Fischer wrote about it on BreakPoint a few days ago:

"We should not be surprised. Mother Teresa’s life and ministry was always a stark contrast to the prevailing Western culture that embraced her as its unlikely spiritual icon. So shouldn’t it also be true that in her recent spiritual autopsy, the torment of her soul would be uncovered?"

It's interesting that this would appear at the same time as this, excerpted from an appreciation of the late author Madeleine L'Engle in Christianity Today.

"The contrast between light and darkness, and the paradoxical power of darkness to clarify the truth, to inform even through anguish and suffering, reminds us of the phrase Madeleine often quoted about 'the deep but dazzling darkness' of God and of supernatural reality that we struggle to understand and enter."

In a few days I'll be visiting my sister, who is in rehab following a severe head injury she sustained almost three weeks ago. A day or two after the accident the medical staff said, "If she makes it through this it's going to take some kind of miracle." I said then, not flippantly but in all seriousness, "Well, a miracle is no big deal for God," but we also made sure the car was ready for an emergency trip 800 miles back home.

The miracle is happening. She is about to graduate from using a tracheotomy tube, and she's learning to speak and swallow again, with limited motor ability on her left side at this point. (Did I mention that her left leg is the only one she has?) Her mental faculties have otherwise returned completely.

This is my sister who has never been really healthy since at least the age of 8, whose right leg was amputated when she was 18, who has suffered two or three serious chronic diseases you probably never heard of, who lost a kidney because her pain tolerance had grown so high that the doctors didn't recognize she had a kidney stone until it was too late. This is my sister who told therapists yesterday she's going to battle this one out, too. This is my sister whose faith in God has been strong through it all--even though she keeps asking, "Why do all these things have to happen to me?" This is my sister who asked Dad to bring her a slice of one of his famous dishes (graham cracker-crust chocolate pie) yesterday, and still knows how to enjoy life.

I myself have suffered one of the same chronic diseases that she has--it runs in the family--but the course of mine has gone far smoother than hers. It almost took me out in 1978, but I've been essentially free of symptoms for many years. Why has it gone better for me? Why do I not suffer anguish like Mother Teresa has? Why do people have such different experiences? Does it have something to do with this "contrast between light and darkness, and the paradoxical power of darkness to clarify the truth"?

I don't know a lot of these answers. I do know that God has ordained these experiences of darkness to refine our faith and character. Over and over again I've seen it happen this way, and I've also seen the converse. Once a 23-year-old friend asked me in regard to someone else's emotional struggles, "Why don't they just get over it?" I thought (but did not say aloud), "you haven't experienced enough life yet." I certainly haven't experienced enough yet myself to have all the answers, though I can appreciate that not everyone, even Christians, will "just get over it." And I've experienced enough, and witnessed enough to know that the refining fire of trials is real, and those who walk through it with faith in Christ come out shining brighter, more genuine, more in love with Christ--just as my sister has done.

Christians often say they want to see more of Christ in their lives, to experience more of his work. Let's be clear what we're asking for with that. God's greatest work since creation was a Resurrection. Resurrections don't happen without a death. Miracles often don't happen unless we're in such a fix that we really need one. Darkness does not reveal truth as does light; but the light shines brightest when invading darkness.

Posted: Sat - September 22, 2007 at 11:06 AM |

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"The Paradoxical Power of Darkness To Clarify the Truth"

Thinking Christian by Tom Gilson