Good morning…
Last Monday my husband Steve sent the following devotional to the faculty and staff at the school where he is chaplain. In response, a friend sent me the image above, “For Steve!” she texted.
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Devotional message for January 4th, 2021 by Rev. Steve Allen
The first mission trip I was in charge of in my first job out of seminary, thirty-five high school kids were brought by their parents in the dark of night to our church parking lot for a 5 am departure. Everyone was excited and ready to begin a week-long adventure together. We loaded up a Uhaul and several 15 passenger vans but before we could even get out of the parking lot we discovered the Uhaul we’d rented had a flat tire. I was frustrated, angry, even a little embarrassed. This was my first job, my first trip with these kids, my first experience “running the show” and we couldn’t even get out of the parking lot.
As I drove to the Uhaul store to get a spare tire off another trailer, an older, wiser, more experienced colleague saw my disappointment and said, “Relax. Things happen on trips — and those things can often make the trips more memorable.” I didn’t want to hear it. All I could see was a darkened parking lot full of parents and kids who were irritated; our plans for the day ruined. A few hours later with the flat tire fixed, we finally left the parking lot. My friend was right in his belief that sometimes it’s the flat tires that make things memorable. In fact, that trip became legendary in part because of what happened in that parking lot. It became known as the Flat Tire Trip and has lived on in the memories of everyone who was there; rising above the countless other trips we went on together. I learned that no matter how dark and bleak things look at 5 am, the dawn of hope is just around the corner.
I read an article recently that 2020 made the top ten list as one the worst years in history. It ranks right up there with 1348 (the year of the Black Death) and 1862 (in the midst of the Civil War) as one of the worst ever. It only cemented its place in history for me when Dawn Wells (Mary Ann on Gilligan’s Island) passed away just before the end of the year. The entire world has been groaning for relief from the Flat Tire that was 2020. Plans were ruined; disappointment, frustration and grief reigned. Never has the ball dropping on New Year’s Eve meant more than it did this year. Everyone wanted to turn the page on 2020. And yet if there’s one thing the Flat Tire trip taught me in the darkness of that parking lot thirty years ago it’s that the hope of dawn is just around the corner. It’s what the writer of the gospel of John was talking about when he said “light shines in the darkness and the darkness did not overcome it” (John 1:5). No matter how dark things were, are or ever will be, John wanted to remind us that God’s light shines into that darkness.
As we begin a new year, hope abounds — not because we won’t get any more flat tires, but because when they come (and they will come), we can know the overarching message of scripture: that God’s presence brings light to darkened parking lots; it brings light to a darkened world, it brings 2021 out of 2020.
It’s a new year but may one very ancient and important truth endure — no matter the circumstances — no matter how challenging the disappointments, Light shines in the darkness and the darkness has not — does not — and will never overcome it.
May 2021 be an amazing year — flat tires and all.
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Then two days later, the chaotic siege on our Capitol building occurred. Desiring to speak into the dark divide, the school leaders decided to send out Steve’s devotional as form of encouragement. The next day, his words were sent out to the entire school community, speaking a message of solidarity. Now, with his permission, I forward it to you, echoing his final line: “May 2021 be an amazing year — flat tires and all.”
Later, Jesus talked to the people again. He said, “I am the light of the world. Whoever follows me will never live in darkness. They will have the light that gives life.” (John 8:12, ERV).
…Sue…
