This year’s St. John’s Women’s Retreat theme was taken from a book by Barbara Brown Taylor, Learning to Walk in the Dark. At first glance, I wasn’t sure what to make of this title or concept, but while I was preparing for the Lenten retreat, it grew on me.
Often we are afraid of the dark. We see evil or danger in the dark. And yet, the reality is that God is always with us, and especially in the dark, if we only take time to look. But where? The light that shines in the dark is the light within each of us. The light of God that can, if we allow it, guide us through those “dark” times of fear, sadness, and uncertainty. But the important message is that we should not fear the dark but see it as an opportunity for quiet reflection, for seeing God differently, as well as seeing ourselves more deeply. Fear not, but embrace that opportunity to walk in the dark.
May you find “light” and peace in the “darkness” of this Lenten season,
-Lisa Kirchenbauer
