13 December, 2020

Shining Light into the Heart of Darkness

The book that bore the title The Heart of Darkness was certainly not the first to touch on the terrible possibilities of madness and depravity that lies within the human heart. Perhaps one reason why the book has become a classic is that so many people know that there is darkness inside each one of us that would be expressed as great evil, if only the circumstances were right. When given half a chance, our thoughts descend into such depths that we are thankful that those around us cannot read our minds. While we can easily deceive others about the state of our heart and minds through civility we are taught from our youth, we still have to find a way to live with ourselves and deal with our own hearts of darkness.

Although every one of us has a heart of darkness, what we do about it differs from person to person. Some do their best to ignore it by filling their lives with busyness of one sort or another – business affairs, building a family, following a dream, or travelling around the world. Such people win the admiration of many for doing things that require such intense drive and passion. It seems that they have conquered the darkness by doing something with a purpose. Yet the drive to be continuously busy is just one way of trying to deal with the heart of darkness – by avoiding it as much as possible. When life is full of action, there is no time for deep introspection that might remind you of the true state of your heart.

Another option is to deny that the heart is dark at all. We can deceive ourselves into thinking that those dark thoughts aren’t really “me” after all. Because I’m really a good person, right? This is an attractive option if you aren’t one of those “super humans” described above that can fill their lives to the brink yet never seem to run out of energy. This sort of self-delusion can create “nice” people who continually paper over any kind of darkness with bright and breezy positive thoughts – like covering a deeply cracked wall with pretty wallpaper and hoping that the house won’t fall down. Sometimes the ‘house’ stays standing for a long time, once again winning the admiration of those around us for presumably having dealt with the heart of darkness. 

These two approaches to the problem can be used in combination – alternately avoiding and papering over the issue – so successfully that it appears to everyone around us, and indeed ourselves, that we no longer struggle with the darkness. To help you along the way, there are thousands of books available on perfecting each strategy. While the previous generation seemed intent on self-improvement (thus avoiding the darkness), the current generation is all about self-love and acceptance (thus papering over it). Yet regardless of which strategy or combination of approaches you use, the heart of darkness remains.

Religion or ‘spirituality’ (for those who don’t like the ‘organised’ variety) is frequently used as part of one or both of the strategies described above. Religious devotees of every variety channel their drive and passion into religious activities (hours of meditation, wearing out one’s knees with prayer, or even devoting life to jihad), thus winning the same kind of approval that similarly driven people receive in the secular realm. This way, you are too busy devoting your life to religion to consider the state of your heart, whilst those around you continually affirm that you are on the right path.

Alternatively, one can use religious belief as a way to deceive yourself into believing that you’re OK – provided you follow these guidelines and do the right stuff, you really can claim to be a good person. Organised religion of every kind gives you nice, clear guidelines on what boxes to tick in order to reach that desired state of goodness. Those who eschew organised religion are all at sea without the boxes, so many of them will turn to New Age ideas as a less organised way of achieving the same thing. New Age spirituality focuses heavily on self-love and care, based on the premise that you really are a good person – if only you discover the right part of yourself. The deep cracks in the wall of your life are still there; only the colour of the wallpaper differs according to religious or spiritual preference.

The dark and desperate state of the human heart is an undeniable reality that all must face, regardless of what you believe or don’t believe about the nature and origin of humanity and life itself. In the back of everyone’s mind is the lingering question: “but am I really good enough?” Maybe you have reached the greatest heights in your career or are placed on a pedestal by everyone who knows you, but is that good enough? Will your religious observances really get you anywhere in the end? A telltale sign of manmade religion is that there are no guarantees – no one actually knows what ‘good enough’ really looks like. 

The honest seeker sees through all of this, and eventually tires of it all. Perhaps they have tried and failed the various strategies, yet they’re tired of trying to be perfect or pretending that everything is fine when it really isn’t. What they’re left with is the dark, yawning chasm of their own heart. Some people are naturally introspective and will come to this point early in life, while others will take the round about route of trying everything else first. Tragically, many will have clung to their strategies of avoidance and self-deception right to the end of their lives. Just as tragic are those who finally face their own hearts and decide that the only way out is to end their lives prematurely.

Depression and self-harm have reached pandemic proportions in society today, and Covid-19 has only made it worse. People are reaching out, looking desperately for answers, and finding many varieties of the options I described above – some of which make them feel a bit better for a while. Yet there is one thing, and only one thing, that provides an antidote to darkness. It is light.

Physical light is an amazing thing – darkness can never overwhelm it. Indeed, the darker the room, the more we notice the tiniest, dimmest source of light. You cannot run away from darkness and you cannot ignore it. But if you turn on a bright light, darkness simply vanishes. These physical principles also work in the spiritual realm. The antidote to the heart of darkness and all the pain it causes us and our family and friends is not to avoid it or paper over it, but to turn on the light.

The Word of God is the only book that accurately describes the condition of the human heart of darkness and provides the light needed to drive the darkness away. This is because the Author is also the Creator who knows exactly how the human mind, soul and spirit are put together and what has gone wrong. 
God diagnosed the human condition in Genesis 6:5 – Then the Lord saw that the wickedness of man was great in the earth, and that every intent of the thoughts of his heart was only evil continually. 

He confirmed this condition when speaking to Jeremiah (17: 9)
“The heart is deceitful above all things, 
And desperately wicked; 
Who can know it?
I, the Lord, search the heart,
I test the mind,
Even to give every man according to his ways,
According to the fruit of his doings.”

Jesus described it in even more detail (Matt. 15:18-19) – “But those things which proceed out of the mouth come from the heart, and they defile a man. For out of the heart proceed evil thoughts, murders, adulteries, fornications, thefts, false witness, blasphemies.”

I think we can safely say that God understands our hearts of darkness very well, better than any psychologist, friend, or guru. His piercing light sees right into the depths of our souls, reaching beyond where our conscious mind can reach (Job 12:22; Daniel 2:22). 

As the Good Physician, God not only diagnoses our problem, but He has the solution. That solution is Himself, particularly as His essence is manifested in the Person of Jesus Christ. Long before Jesus walked along the edge of the Sea of Galilee, Isaiah declared (9:1b-2) – 
By the way of the sea, beyond the Jordan,
In Galilee of the Gentiles.
The people who walked in darkness
Have seen a great light;
Those who dwelt in the land of the shadow of death,
Upon them a light has shined.

Jesus left us in no doubt about His true nature saying, “I am the light of the world. He who follows Me shall not walk in darkness, but have the light of life” (John 8:12). Jesus was indeed the light of the world, and He still is. But now He chooses to shine through His body, the church. For you were once darkness, but now you are light in the Lord. Walk as children of light (Eph. 5:8). 

This is where the real challenge lies. For the Christians who are reading this, you know that there are people in your life who are living with a heart of darkness. Some have avoided it through staying busy, while others are really “good people” who have papered over it, yet an increasing number have realised the futility of either strategy and live in a state of depression and despair. Yet we have the Light; we have the antidote to darkness. Are we obeying our Lord’s command – “You are the light of the world. A city that is set on a hill cannot be hidden. Nor do they light a lamp and put it under a basket, but on a lampstand, and it gives light to all who are in the house. Let your light so shine before men, that they may see your good works and glorify your Father in heaven”? (Matt. 5:14-16)

Shining a light is difficult, because it attracts attention. Just like physical light, very deep darkness makes even dim lights noticeable. Light also exposes things that people would prefer to remain hidden. Light reveals the true nature of their hearts and the wickedness of their deeds, which is a necessary first step to repentance and salvation. Some may shy away from this because they have spent so much time papering up the cracks in their lives that they simply cannot bear to see all of that effort go to waste. Others cannot face the thought of their former admirers turning away from them. As the apostle John (3:19) warns – And this is the condemnation, that the light has come into the world, and men loved darkness rather than light, because their deeds were evil. 
  
Being a light is risky in a dark place where people love darkness. If people rejected the true Light of God, then many will reject the small portion of His light that we reflect. But Christians who would follow their Lord have no choice – we must be lights. If we are not shining God’s light into the lives of those around us, then we have no worth in this world (Matt. 5:13). 

The world is getting darker every day. One of the many symptoms of this is the increasing anxiety and depression in society that causes untold mental anguish and even suicide. Now, more than ever, people need Christians to shine into their lives. “But I am not qualified to treat mental illness,” you may object, or “if I studied psychology, perhaps I could Christianise it and help people,” or, “I don’t understand depression, because I have never suffered from it myself”. I have keenly felt my own inadequacy when wanting to help those who are trapped in depression. Yet God doesn’t need trained professionals or people with personal experience of the problem – He wants lights.

It is not for us to diagnose which particular mental disorder or illness people have and to figure out how to “fix” them. We cannot presume to know enough about the human psyche to be able to prescribe a specific cure, but we know the One who created the soul and mind of every human on earth. He is the Great Physician who understands one of the deepest mysteries of medicine – how the physical brain and body link with the non-physical mind and soul of a human. He also knows how to resurrect a physical body and how to resurrect the spirit within those who are spiritually dead.

Are the mental issues connected to physical problems? We know the Great Physician who heals the sick. Is the real issue a spiritual one due to unrepented sin? We know the One Who has bought forgiveness for the whole world with His blood. Are we limited by our understanding of the problem? We know the all-knowing One who sees into the depths of the heart. There is simply no excuse for not introducing the searching soul to our Lord. It is high time for every Christian to go boldly into this darkening world and shine.

1 comment:

Unknown said...

This article is in my view excellent, Gail. Really challenging and relevant to what is happening around us. I love the way you have pointed out that the deeper the darkness, the brighter is our light - even though it may be small!