The light still shines in the darkness

                and the darkness has never put it out.

    Yesterday I received a call from a medical center asking me to get a message to a fellow that I had referred to them, a fellow from the community that has addictions and mental health issues. He doesn't have a phone and has sort of dropped off the face of the earth. His Dr. has sent three letters advising him of an important appointment but he hasn't responded and has missed each appointment. As I know where he lives, I was asked to deliver the message personally. When I got there one of his neighbours opened the main entrance into the house for me and I went to his room and knocked on his door. At that point I heard a large dog go ballistic and a voice from inside demanding to know who I was. I replied: "My name is Tim and I am a support worker with a message from your doctor" and heard the response: "Open the door". The dog was still barking furiously so I prayed a little prayer and opened the door.  Just as I did, the dog charged through the small kitchen towards me, thankfully sliding to a stop, still furious and still barking, just short of my legs. In the small kitchen were seated two men who I have met before but was surprised to see there.  Both are notorious to the police and in the community for their use and trafficking of drugs, as well as other criminal activities. Both of them know me because I have been working in the lives of some of their "customers." We have bumped heads before. They have been partially responsible for the overdose deaths of a couple of my clients while I was with CMHA as well as the eviction and homelessness of at least one other. A number of others that I am still involved with are no longer their clients thanks to God working in their lives. They know we are on opposite sides. They are rough characters, deeply trapped in destructive lifestyles and showing no obvious interest in freedom at this point. Neither of them tried to restrain the dog as they glared at me from their chairs. My guess is that they wanted to see what would happen. I passed the message over to them with no confidence it will ever get to the man it was intended for, the man whose small apartment has been taken over by these two. I never saw him but did hear him speak from the back room. As I left I felt somewhat hopeless and fearful for the fellow whose doctor has gone out of his way to try and help. He has chosen his “friends” poorly.

    Today I am encouraged to pray for that man, and his two “friends” after reading John 1:5 The light still shines in the darkness and the darkness has never put it out.  With a truth like that to stand on, how can we stop hoping? This world can be a very dark place- we all know it. Where God is ignored or rejected there is darkness. We can all be touched by it and stained by it. What a tremendous foundation to build on when we remember that we who belong to Jesus share in His light and carry it with us wherever we go and that no matter how black things look, the darkness can never, ever extinguish the light.