Walking in the light — despite the darkness!
Jane Denniston
March 17, 2026
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Ephesians 5: 8-14 (NIV-UK)
8 For you were once darkness, but now you are light in the Lord. Live as children of light 9 (for the fruit of the light consists in all goodness, righteousness and truth) 10 and find out what pleases the Lord. 11 Have nothing to do with the fruitless deeds of darkness, but rather expose them. 12 It is shameful even to mention what the disobedient do in secret. 13 But everything exposed by the light becomes visible – and everything that is illuminated becomes a light. 14 This is why it is said:
‘Wake up, sleeper,
rise from the dead,
and Christ will shine on you.’
These are dark days indeed. I confess that often I'm scared to turn on the news or open a newspaper. Having reached the age of retirement, nothing is as I anticipated it to be at this point in my life: neither in the church, nor in my country, nor in the world. The news seems to be unrelentingly bleak. Yet I know, because of some things I read, that this is not the whole story. All over the world there are good news stories, an antidote to the bleak and depressing news which is too often all that we hear. For example, amidst the unrelenting news about the effects of climate change, and human exploitation, on the animal kingdom — the giant panda and the humpback whale have been removed from the endangered species list due to positive action. And each good news story is a light shining in the darkness. If you Google ‘good news stories’, you’ll find whole websites dedicated to good news – a remedy for despair.
It is very easy to be overwhelmed by despair in current circumstances: violence, and hatred of those who are different are escalating and the threat of war hangs over us. Yet each small act of kindness, or justice, or mercy, is a light shining in the darkness and has the capacity to overcome the darkness. We should never believe that the little things we do are unimportant. Your smile might make someone’s day. A kind word might make someone feel that they matter. Letting someone merge in a queue of traffic might encourage them to do the same to others. Small acts of kindness spread.
In the darkness of the world today, what small acts are within our power to add to the good news rather than the bad? How can we spread good news to counteract despair? In what way can we shine to lighten the darkness?
Prayer:
Loving Father,
help us to love as you do
and show us ways to spread that love throughout our world.
May we ‘pay it forward’
rather than paying back.
Help us to love with no expectation of return
and without fear or prejudice,
just as you have loved us, Amen
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