Out Our Way: Hitting a dry spell

Out our way, we sometimes don't get all the moisture we want. Even a winter like this one with one Alberta Clipper after another may not provide enough to fill the reservoirs this summer. The snow has been mostly powder, and while it makes travel tough, there just isn't that much water in it.

But sometimes we need a dry spell. I recall fighting some grass fires in Wyoming when I was in the volunteer fire department. Whole pastures went up and the cattlemen knew the grazing would be lean. But one old timer said to me, "It will be rough this year, but wait till you see the grass next year." As it turned out, the following year the pasture had a great deal of new growth and fewer thorns and thistles. Sometimes a dry spell is a prelude to something better.

As many folks know, I have been going through a rather lengthy dry spell myself, and it doesn't look like it is going to change any time soon. But I remind myself that just as forest fires are necessary from time to time for the health of the forests, burning away brush that strangles growth can even make new life possible. Some pine seeds are only released in extreme heat.  

Maybe that is what is happening to me. Maybe the dry spell is necessary to weed out the little things that are holding back my growth and development. Maybe this is a necessary clearing away of the brambles to allow the tree to grow strong and new life to begin.

I have been reading a number of writings about a Spanish monk who lived and suffered during the Spanish Inquisition. He described "the dark night of the soul." But it is not a "feel-sorry-for-myself" book; rather it is filled with hope.

 In the darkness all distractions are gone and only God remains. Instead of its being empty, some commentators have suggested that darkness is not the lack of light but rather too much light for our finite selves to experience. In short, it is in the darkness that we find God.

 I have to admit the book is a bit over my head, and while scholars and monks find it stimulating and faith-giving, I have to rely on wiser and deeper thinkers to help me grasp it. But one thing seems to be clear: When there are no distractions to fill up the void, we are more open to God. We are forced to walk by faith rather than by sight, for there is no choice.

Jesus knew this when He first went into the wilderness and was tempted by the Enemy. He knew this also in the garden as he awaited His betrayal and crucifixion.  The early Desert Fathers and Mothers went out into the same wilderness in Egypt, Judea, and Syria to isolate themselves in order to find God in the isolation.

Paul knew such despair as well. He described it using the image of a mirror, which was not like what we think of today. In Paul's day, a mirror was a polished bit of brass or bronze that gave at most a blurred and somewhat distorted reflection. He could see himself, but it was not a clear view. He suggests that in our lives that shadowy, distorted image is the best we have, a not overly clear vision of God. But by faith, we learn to trust God even when the Way is not very visible, and we follow. We stumble along the way and even lose sight from time to time, but we keep going. In these times of spiritual darkness, we walk by faith and that faith becomes stronger, and the Way becomes clearer.

Imagine the dark times in Paul's life; he was rejected by the religious leaders of his day, scoffed at, betrayed, plotted against, beaten, in constant deprivation and danger, imprisoned, and eventually sentenced to death. Yes, he knew the dark night. Yet it is during that time that most of his letters were written, the "epistles" which make up much of the New Testament. It was in the midst of the darkness that he did some of his greatest missionary work.

By faith alone he kept going, finished the race and completed his work. Now "we see in a glass darkly," he wrote, "but one day we shall see face to face and know even as we are known."  In my darkness his words give me hope. This dark pit is not a cave, but rather a tunnel, and I will yet see the light.  

Blessings on all who share the darkness this day. Let us continue to walk by faith rather than by sight until we do at last see face to face the One whose voice we now follow.

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John Bruington and Goliath seek to follow Christ even in the darkness. The storm will pass, the sun will shine and the dawn is coming. Take heart and keep walking in the Lord's Way.