I like to read from the New Oxford Annotated Bible because of all the footnotes that help me imagine the setting. My life revolves around books – reading many stories and living vicariously between the pages.
Today’s passages take us from Jeremiah’s world of “oppression … to deceit.” How I strive to forgive.
Then, the psalmist languishes for God’s salvation. “My eyes fail as we watch for your promise of comfort.” I, too, wait.
But when I read “I am the light of the world. Whoever follows me will never walk in darkness…” John 8:12 … I was home with those comforting words.
So, here’s my story about light in the darkness last fall. I went to the “Fix the Sticks,” a cemetery tour to raise money to repair the Chapel built in 1890. First, we gathered at the Firestone Memorial, where the town mayor talked about Harvey’s many inventions including rubber tires. Then, we meandered toward a woman with a lantern and heard stories about the pediatrician Doc Pritchard from his daughter wearing his white coat and stethoscope. Then, on to my husband’s family plot where Mac talked about Grandad Lundgren, who managed the American Legion’s Annual Street Fair carnival on Main Street for more than 30 years. By then the sky was a raging orange-scarlet with dark wisps of purple clouds touching the tree tops. We went to more graves and heard about other dear ones and what they did. It was pitch black, when we got to the Stick House Chapel. Then, I realized my faith shows me God’s presence not only in the stunning sunset among the weathered tombs, but also in the stranger next to me guiding our feet with her cell phone.