John 1:5, “The light shines in the darkness, and the darkness has not overcome.”

There was a time not too long ago when the darkness hovered near. Chaotic world events and challenges all around leached me dry. I snuck away to a monastery for a twenty-four retreat of silence.

When I was younger, I would set aside time to seek the Lord for answers or breakthroughs. But I’ve come to realize that movement in a temporary situation pales in comparison to His Presence. One is limited to a moment in time, the other lasts forever.

Now I just want Him.

Near sunset, I walked out to a ridge and settled in rustling, reaching grasses. As the sun sank lower, a fringe of wildflowers teased the sprawling lines of mountains. I watched and waited. The silence gathered me into a certainty that all that really mattered was that present moment.

And then everything around me began to sing. Not in voices that the world could hear. But my soul heard.  A low humming swelled into a chorus of “Glory be to the one true God.”

Even though I and all of creation knew night was coming, for those tender moments we soaked up enough light to carry us through. In the darkest night, there is a light that shines, and the darkness can never overcome it.

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