And this is the judgment, that the light has come into the world, and people
loved darkness rather than light because their deeds were evil. (John 3:19)
I am really struck by this line in today's Gospel reading. "This is the
judgement" — present tense. Not something coming in the future, no, this is
here and now. "People loved the darkness rather than the light" — how often
do I love the darkness rather than light? Do you ever find yourself "hiding
out" because you have done something you know is wrong, not up to your
standards, hurtful to someone? The judgment here is NOT that we did evil
deeds and will be punished. No, the judgment is in the hiding out. We
condemn ourselves by our behavior. Because we are afraid to stand in the
light and look at what we have done.
Because, you see, there is a choice here. We can choose to love the darkness
or we can choose to love the light. But loving the light means being willing
to face the light, to stand in it, even when we have been less than
compassionate, less than loving, less than helpful. It means standing up and
taking responsibility for our actions, all of our actions. When we do that
we find total freedom. But most people are afraid and would rather love the darkness.
But just remember the words of Psalm 132, "but darkness is not dark to you".
just another child of God 