Out of darkness

"I drive out of dark and into morning glory.  I awaken to the strange truth that all new life comes out of the dark places, and hasn't it always been?  Out of darkness God spoke forth the teeming life.......

All new life labours out of the very bowels of darkness.

That fullest life itself dawns from nothing but Calvary darkness and tomb-cave black into the radiance of Easter morning.

Out of the darkness of the cross, the world transfigures into new life."
             Ann Voskamp in One Thousand Gifts (p. 96)

                         
Today is Good Friday.  What a day to think about darkness and light.  Many years I have actually planted part of my garden on Good Friday.  (Not this year, though, and not only because of my recent surgery, but also because right now winter still has its hold on my garden and snow still resides on a good portion of the garden.) 

Putting seeds, things that look completely dead, into dark and empty soil is a powerful symbol of Good Friday.  Things that look dead, but will show life in the future.  Things that look dead but have the promise of blessings and goodness.  As we watch and wait, we will see the life coming forth.  That's what Good Friday is to me.  A patch of darkness with the promise of Light Eternal.  Wow!  How incredible.  What an amazing gift.  For all.