Learning to Walk in the Dark BBT
“Our light bulbs have burned out, and the fixtures are hanging from the ceiling by a bare wire. Before we get more artificial light, see if there is a message in the dark. God has done some of his best work in the dark, including resurrection.” Barbara Brown Taylor, Festival of Homiletics, Nashville 2013, from Learning to Walk in the Dark.
I have learned so much from Barbara Brown Taylor. I read her first book of sermons on the gospel of Matthew, The Seeds of Heaven, in a book group in the 1980s. She magnetized all of us by her use of words and her intimate gospel message. She taught me how to be a narrative preacher, seeing God at work in the stories of the Bible, and how these stories are true in our lives. I attended every conference she led for years about preaching and writing, especially at the College of Preachers at the National Cathedral and Kanuga. I have read almost everything she has published that I could get my hands on. In recent years, she has taught me about seeing God in the world, pluralism, seeing God in people of other faiths, and seeing God in the dark.
Finally, she has taught me to be me, not a Barbara Brown Taylor copy, but to find my own voice and be the person God created me to be. Likewise, as spiritual friends, it is our job to help each other become the person God created us to be, not what we think our parents, children, or spouses want us to be, not even the person we most admire. However, a person we admire may give us a clue about some qualities that may be hidden in us that are part of the person God created us to be. We are called daily to thank people like Barbara Brown Taylor for this insight.
The darkness of Advent with shorter sunlight and the darkness of those times in the pandemic taught us much about being the person God created us to be.
The days are shorter.
We are starkly aware of the possible shortness of life.
Now is the time to take off the masks we have worn for so many years and become our true selves, who God created us to be.
Joanna joannaseibert.com https://www.joannaseibert.com/