Darkest before the Dawn by Kelley Barton

Last fall I wrote a reflection about hope through despair, and I included this photo. As I am thinking about Good Friday and Easter coming up in just a few days, the image from this photo won’t leave me alone.

Good Friday was a dark and painful day for Jesus. He sacrificed himself, willing to die in a brutal manner, because he loved us so much. Because he has hope for our future. And he knew he would be resurrected.

Easter is our celebration of his resurrection. Of hope. Of the possibilities of new life, growth and beauty for humanity.

One needs the other for the story to be complete. As we all know from our personal experience, we can’t escape one for the other.

Theologian Thomas Fuller wrote in 1659

“It is always darkest just before the day dawneth”.

Science backs that up. Our humanity can attest to it also.

Many of us may be experiencing dark times of pain, grief, abandonment and a feeling of hopelessness. It may seem impossible to embrace the hope that Easter brings to us. If that is where you are this season, I encourage you to give yourself room to feel deeply what you are up against. Surround yourself with those who love you and will listen, or even be silent, but present. Be patient with yourself and don’t force yourself to rise up to a facade of joy. Pushing down what weighs on you may result in those feelings surfacing in unhealthy ways.

Look at the details in this photo. These beautiful trees did not spring up immediately after the fire raced through the Sierras. Devastation wreaked havoc. Pain was immediate. And healing took a long time. But it did come. And it did not replace the burned logs, but rather slowly surrounding them with beauty.

I feel like God is telling me, through this photo I randomly took one afternoon, that He will make something beautiful out of all our scars. That is what She did with the scars Jesus bore for us on Good Friday. Scars that remained on his body after he resurrected on Easter. Can’t that be true for us?