Read: Psalm 51:1-17
It was a late March evening, just before dusk, as I stood on a bridge
across the Rhine River in South West Germany. The days of Lent were
rapidly moving to Good Friday and Easter. Depressed and lonely, mesmerized
by the water below, I began pondering life’s meaning and purpose.
Suddenly a hand touched my shoulder and a voice spoke to me in
German, asking if I was ok. Our conversation continued until the voice
said, “look.” As I turned and looked across the water, lights danced everywhere
as the city of Mannheim had gone from dusk, to darkness, to light!
The voice said to me: “I’ve stood here many evenings and watched what
you have just observed and I have been renewed, enriched and challenged
when my life moved from dusk, to darkness, and then to light!” My eyes
fixed on the beauty of a skyline, fully glowing with light, I began to recall
some words a Sunday School teacher shared: (John 12:36) “Put your trust
in the light while you have it, so that you may become children of light.”
No! The hand on my shoulder was not literally the hand of God, except
that it came through one of God’s servants using her hands to touch
someone depressed and lonely!
Prayer:
May the days of Lent engulf us with thoughts about how you, O God in the
gift of Your Son, travel with us in our dusk and darkness and bring us into the
marvelous light of resurrection and new life! Amen. ~The Rev. Buzz Moore
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