God in darknessStart of Lent – FridayReadingMatthew 26.36-38In the beginning when God created the heavens and the earth, the earth was a formless void and darkness covered the face of the deep, while a wind from God swept over the face of the waters. Then God said, ‘Let there be light’; and there was light. And God saw that the light was good; and God separated the light from the darkness. God called the light Day, and the darkness he called Night. And there was evening and there was morning, the first day.ReflectionThere is a long and unfortunate convention – in the Christian tradition and far beyond it – of associating darkness and hiddenness only with evil, fear and danger. Simplistic notions that light exclusively represents truth, holiness, goodness, and godliness – and darkness always their opposites – limit the wonderful ways in which we can encounter the beauty and majesty of God across the diversity of our world.At the start of Lent Christians often revisit the stories of God creating human beings “from the dust of the earth”. Today’s reading takes us back even further, to when – from “the formless void” – first the heavens and the earth are created, followed by human beings and all other creatures. This great work of God begins in the hidden and the unfathomable. Far from being bad, darkness is where God’s most mighty work is done.WatchBe open today to seeing darkness as somewhere God is at work....and prayThat you might discover God in new and unfamiliar places this Lent.
St Philip's
