In the Light

I made the mistake the other night, of doing an out and back trail run at dusk. I was fine heading out (3 miles), but at the turn I soon realized I'd be chasing daylight for the last three home. The light faded into the mountains within the first mile....two miles to go, up and down trails - and suddenly I couldn't see a thing. I've run that trail hundreds of times, so I know it well, but never in the dark. You don't see roots, rocks, dips, and trees that have fallen across the trail. You're on your own if anything happens, because all of the intelligent folks have long since left the trail for the comfort of their homes. So you slow down, and you navigate the best you can. I tripped several times, and re-aggravated a left calf strain with a mile to go as I missed a drop in the trail. After what seemed like forever, I reached the trail head and my car....alive, but battered and bruised. I should have known better. I returned to that same trail today, in the light of day, and I flew. There must have been 15-20 people out, hiking and running. Every rock, root, dip, and tree was fully visible and I took far longer strides than I had just a few days ago. It was the same course, just completely different circumstances. Take the light away and the trail becomes treacherous. You can get into trouble quickly - coming off course at times. So goes life without the Son to guide our way and light our path. When we allow ourselves to drift away from a relationship with Him, it can get dark quickly. He's still there - waiting - but we've made the conscious choice to go it on our own, because we know better. And then we trip up, we go down (sometimes really hard), and we feel isolated....alone. When we're in the midst of the darkness, there appears to be no hope. No way out. But there is - the paved road where you left your car is always out there, and the trail doesn't need to be navigated in the dark. It's the same life, with it's ups and downs, highs and lows, but it's a completely different set of circumstances. We're never alone. There's ALWAYS hope for those who keep the faith. Even in the darkest moments, there's always a Light which guides us through to the other side, where the trail head awaits and we can return Home.