Day 25: Coming Out of the Darkness

"...saying to prisoners, 'Come out', to those who are in darkness, 'Show yourselves.'...Sing for joy, O heavens, and exult, O earth; break forth, O mountains, into singing! For the Lord has comforted his people, and will have compassion on his suffering ones. But Zion said, 'The Lord has forsaken me, my Lord has forgotten me. Can a woman forget her nursing-child or show no compassion for the child of her womb? Even these may forget, yet I will not forget you." 
-Isaiah 49:9, 13-15



I’ve always been fond of Isaiah. There are so many wonderful verses in this lengthy book, and today’s readings do not disappoint—as per usual, there is much food for thought.

Isaiah 49: 9; 13: …saying to the prisoners, ‘Come out’,
 to those who are in darkness, ‘Show yourselves.’
 … Sing for joy, O heavens, and exult, O earth; break forth, O mountains, into singing!
For the Lord has comforted his people, 
and will have compassion on his suffering ones.


And yet…I can’t help but have a twinge of discomfort when I think about this reading, like really think about it. I mean, we gloss over it, we read it once, and perhaps consider how nice it sounds. But lately I’ve reflected quite a lot about darkness. Not in the sense of my YASC placement; I’m head over heels about being back in Brazil again. But just because things can go or perhaps are going well doesn’t mean we don’t have our own moments of being in darkness. Recently, someone very close to me had a few months’ bout of severe depression, enough so that their entire personality and communication was distinctly altered. It was a very difficult time through which to pass, even more so to come back to the U.S. and see her in that state.

I am so beyond thankful that due to modern medicine and caring, healing hands, that time has passed and that person has improved substantially, but when she was in the midst of it, the rest of us too felt like we were in some amount of darkness. Uncertain if it would pass. It brought back memories of my own struggles with depression in high school. The difficulties of coming out of that darkness, no matter how much I felt the calling to do just that. It’s easy to become used to the darkness, or to be so lost in it all that you wonder if it will ever end – even if there’s a light shining behind your shoulder.

It is so easy in times like these to feel as Isaiah continues:

14 But Zion said, ‘The Lord has forsaken me, 
my Lord has forgotten me.’ 


Lent has always been one of my favorite seasons, if for no other reason it compels us to slow down. To wait and reflect. We’re closing in on Holy Week—and though that means getting closer to Easter Sunday, first we must pass through Good Friday, and the darkness that comes with it. There are times we might feel the weight of that darkness more than others. And yet, as the aforementioned verse says, not only will the Lord comfort us, but He will have compassion. At its root, compassion means ‘to suffer with.’ Not only do we have a God who calls us out of darkness, but He will suffer with us through it.

15 Can a woman forget her nursing-child, 
or show no compassion for the child of her womb?
Even these may forget, 
yet I will not forget you.

Yes, we know the story that lies so soon ahead of us. We know how it plays out and that there’s a happy ending. But I take solace in the fact that we have our moments of darkness as well—the light would not seem so bright if we had nothing in which it could shine, and bring us to the joy that awaits.

Nina Boe is working in the Anglican Diocese of Rio de Janeiro, 
part time  in support of the Office of the Bishop and part time with the 
Church  of the Most Holy Trinity's human rights ministry and community outreach.

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