Light reading? Abigail Maxwell takes a leap in the dark

‘If darkness is evil, or the bitterness and pain we find in life, it is covered over by light.’

‘God is with us in darkness.’ | Photo: Cherry Laithang on Unsplash

‘Darkness is not dark to you, and the night is as bright as the day. Darkness and light to you are both alike.’ Psalm 139:12 lives with me as a statement of the power and Otherness of God. I quote the version from the Church of England’s Celebrating Common Prayer. I used that book for some time, praying daily in familiar poetic words. I loved the verse, though I never understood it. That was unimportant: it explains God not by bringing God down to our level but by seeking to raise us to God’s. God for me then was a reality apart from me, the Creator of heaven and earth, whom I worshipped with beautiful words, alone or with others.

You need to login to read subscriber-only content and/or comment on articles.