Darkness: Midnight
I recently finished reading “Dancing in the Darkness: Spiritual Lessons for Thriving in Turbulent Times” by Otis Moss III. In setting the context for the book, he writes in the Introduction, “I have written this book to bring news that will afflict all who are comfortable. The bad news: It is midnight. But I have also written this book to bring news that will comfort the afflicted. The good news: It is midnight!”
The bad news is that it’s midnight. It’s dark. It’s the end of the day. It’s too late to get anything else done. Whatever’s left undone will have to wait until tomorrow.
The good news is that it’s midnight. It’s 12:00 a.m. It’s a new day. It’s a new beginning. Dawn is coming. Morning is coming. It’s the chance to start anew.
Midnight is a turning point. It’s not literally the middle of the night; more of a metaphorical middle of the night. Yet it is a change in the clock and the calendar; it’s a change in our measurement of time. Here the old ends; here the new begins. It’s bad news and good news. It’s grief and it’s hope, all rolled into one.
Darkness is a place for turning points. A 3 a.m. prayer. Hitting bottom with nowhere to go but up. Being sick for a long time and finally getting the right diagnosis, which means you can finally get the right treatment. A turning point means the end of a season of waiting. It means a change, for better or worse. It’s a new day.
When I first started reading “Dancing in the Dark,” I had recently learned when my own indefinitely long holding pattern would end. I finished my chaplaincy residency program last August and have been working as a contract chaplain while applying to full-time positions. In April I interviewed for and was accepted to a second-year chaplaincy residency program, which starts next month. It’s a turning point, after waiting and searching and wondering. It’s still only a 12-month residency, but it at least answers the question of what is immediately next and I expect it will better set me up to find a full-time position after I graduate. The bad news? It’s midnight. Money has gotten tight while I haven’t been working full-time. I’ve been waiting and wondering and questioning. The good news? It’s midnight. The period of waiting has a set end time. It will not go on forever. There is a new day coming.