THE DIVINE LIGHT OF CHRIST

Crucial questions
Jesus said, "If you abide in My word, you are My disciples. And you shall know the truth and the truth will set you free."  (John 8:31-32.)  What sort of freedom did Christ mean? Jesus expanded what He meant in John 8.34-35. He was speaking about freedom from the bondage of sin and condemnation. And for those of us who are acutely aware of our sins, this means everything. Like King David, our sins are always before us. 

What is the truth? Jesus was speaking of truth that leads to salvation: In other words, Jesus is truth. I find it ironic that Pilate posed this very question as he was looking at Truth square in the face. 

What is the light? Jesus is the light of the world. 

The light came into the world but the world did not comprehend it (See John 1.5)  Still, the light of Christ shines despite drastic or dire earthly circumstances. The light and Truth of Christ has both confounded and illuminated the hearts and minds of men and women living from the 1st to the 21st Century. Suffering has the capacity to draw the sufferer closer to Christ as their interior Guide and Master. This beautiful interchange points to the center of mystery of Redemption. Suffering itself is an experience of evil but Jesus made suffering the ultimate good of eternal salvation at the Cross.

To those who unite their suffering with the Redeemer, new horizons of the Kingdom of God are slowly revealed, through their suffering. That Kingdom is built of the redemptive power of divine love.

The light still shines

How can people comprehend the light? I’m not sure human beings are capable of comprehending the light without utterly and completely surrendering themselves to the Light (Jesus Christ). They must submit to the will of God—content to accept whatever that may be.

Now I know that the words “surrender” and “submission” represent particularly repugnant concepts to a vain, spoilt and stiff-necked generation like the ‘boomers (of which I am a part). Submission to anything is unthinkable to most of us. But the option is to stubbornly remain in soul-darkness, stumbling or suffering without meaning. That ends in the greatest human poverty: spiritual despair. I believe that is why depression is so common. In a culture with everything—the highest standard of life, the lowest levels of infant mortality, the greatest comforts and the least wants, why is depression so rampant?

I’m not referring to depression caused by grieving or mourning loss. I’m talking about unfocused depression. Could it be attributable to the level of Christ’s light we shut out or allow to be shut out of our inner selves?

Jesus said, “I am the light of the world. Whoever follows me will never walk in darkness, but have the light of life.” Light shines brighter the darker it gets.

Jesus said “I am the way, the truth and the life. Noone comes to the Father except through me.” (John 14.6). Christ’s truth can (and does) set people free, even today. He said: “If you hold to my teachings, you are really my disciples. Then you will know the truth, and the truth will set you free.”

Crucial questions
But what sort of freedom did Christ mean? Jesus expanded what He meant in John 8.34-35. He was speaking about freedom from the bondage of sin and condemnation. And for those of us who are acutely aware of our sins, this means everything. Like King David, our sins are always before us. 

What is the truth? Jesus was speaking of truth that leads to salvation: In other words, Jesus is truth. I find it ironic that Pilate posed this very question as he was looking at Truth square in the face. 

What is the light? Jesus is the light of the world. 

The light came into the world but the world did not comprehend it (See John 1.5)  Still, the light of Christ shines despite drastic or dire earthly circumstances. The light and Truth of Christ has both confounded and illuminated the hearts and minds of men and women living from the 1st to the 21st Century. Suffering has the capacity to draw the sufferer closer to Christ as their interior Guide and Master. This beautiful interchange points to the center of a mystery of Redemption. Suffering itself is an experience of evil but Jesus made suffering the ultimate good of eternal salvation at the Cross.

To those who unite their suffering with the Redeemer, new horizons of the Kingdom of God are slowly revealed, through their suffering. That Kingdom is built of the redemptive power of divine love.

The light still shines
How can people comprehend the light? I’m not sure human beings are capable of comprehending the light without utterly and completely surrendering themselves to the Light (Jesus Christ). They must submit to the will of God—content to accept whatever that may be.

Now I know that the words “surrender” and “submission” represent particularly repugnant concepts to a vain, spoilt and stiff-necked generation like the ‘boomers (of which I am a part). Submission to anything is unthinkable to most of us. But the option is to stubbornly remain in soul-darkness, stumbling or suffering without meaning. That ends in the greatest human poverty: spiritual despair. I believe that is why depression is so common. In a culture with everything—the highest standard of life, the lowest levels of infant mortality, the greatest comforts and the least wants, why is depression so rampant?

I’m not referring to depression caused by grieving or mourning loss. I’m talking about unfocused depression. Could it be attributable to the level of Christ’s light we shut out or allow to be shut out of our inner selves?

Jesus said, “I am the light of the world. Whoever follows me will never walk in darkness, but have the light of life.” Light shines brighter the darker it gets.

I believe that’s why the light of Christ is so evident in suffering. It is in the ‘dark night of the soul’ that Christ’s light is most evident. Christ acts within suffering by the power his consoling Spirit of truth. That is why sorrow of affliction and the Joy of Christ can exist simultaneously.

Jesus referred to this in his passage about being the vine while we (his followers) are the branches. He said,

“As my Father has loved me, so have I loved you. If you obey my commandments, you will remain in my love, just as I have obeyed my Father’s commands and remain in his love. I have told you this so that my joy may be in you and that your joy may be complete. My command is this: Love each other as I have loved you.”

We must love even in suffering. If tears obscure your eyes, know that Christ is with your fire of suffering—whether you know it or not— just as he was the 4th figure with Shadrach, Meshach and Abednego in a fiery furnace.  

MEMORIES OF REFLECTIONS

Saint Augustine said:

Love,

Endures in adversity

It shows prudence in prosperity

It is strong in suffering

It rejoices in good deeds

It is safe in temptation

It is generous in hospitality

Cheerful among true brothers

Patient with the faithless

It is the soul of the Scriptures

The virtue in prophecy

The salvation of the mysteries

It is the strength of knowledge

The bounty of faith

It is wealth for the poor

Life for the dying

Love, is everything.

 

I have suffered with disease and creeping disability most of my adult life. Diagnosed with aggressive multiple sclerosis at thirty, I endured a muriate of frightening neurological symptoms for decades. I am an old man now. Looking back, I’ve come to the same conclusion: Love is everything. Even when the body fails, love remains.  Love is the only possession we can take from this life. 

 

Saint Paul wrote about love. He said that even if we were to possess all knowledge and have profound spiritual gifts, and have faith that can move mountains, if we do not have love, we are nothing. 

 

Loveless faith is harsh, unbending, legalistic. Loveless faith lacks the love of Christ. Real love has certain characteristics. Augustine spoke of them in the passage above.  Paul said:

 

“Love is patient, love is kind. It does not envy, it does not boast, it is not proud. It does not dishonour others, it is not self-seeking, it is not easily angered, it keeps no record of wrongs.  Love does not delight in evil but rejoices with the truth.  It always protects, always trusts, always hopes, always perseveres. Love never fails.”

My life has been a journey toward love—at times halting and uncertain, jealous and envious, often miserly in its expression. But God has been slowly teaching, wooing, chastening then blessing.   

“Love never fails. But where there are prophecies, they will cease; where are tongues, they will be stilled; where there is knowledge, it will pass away. For we know in part and we prophesy in part, but when completeness comes, what is in part disappears. When I was a child, I thought like a child, I reasoned like a child. When I became a man, I put the ways of childhood behind me. For now we see only a reflection as in a mirror; then we shall see face to face. Now I know in part; then I shall know fully, even as I am fully known. And now these three remain: faith, hope and love. But the greatest of these is love.”

Again, Saint Paul’s words. Saint Augustine understood. No doubt, he drew much of his understanding on love from the 13^th Chapter of 1Corinthians. It has blessed and inspired humanity, and read at countless weddings.

For me, it was a passage of the holy Scriptures I kept in mind and close to my heart during my worst attacks of multiple sclerosis. And they were bad, so bad that my doctor did not think I would live more than a few years after being diagnosed. The best doctors could do nothing to stop the savage attacks and slow degeneration. My wife had to watch it all ! She was convinced she would be widowed as a young mother with two children.  That’s how bad things got during the 1980s and ‘90s.

American author, lawyer and senior Fellow for the Discovery Institute’s Center for Human Exceptionalism met me. He described what he saw:

“I met Mark in the early 1990s and we became good friends. When I met him, he could barely walk using two canes because of his progressive MS. Over time, I observed his physical condition worsen, to the point he became triplegic, that is, was only able to use his left arm. He had no use of his legs whatsoever.”

Yes, the MS also began to affect my left arm and hand. My neurologist had exhausted all his treatment options. He resorted to administering the chemotherapy drug mitoxantrone (at that time still an experimental treatment for MS) to try and stave off quadriplegia. It had some ugly side-effects and was discontinued. 

During those dark days, the knowledge that I was loved, and had always been loved, became magnified—it was my comfort and my consolation. One night I was lying awake on my bed in the middle of the night, gazing at the shadowy hoist hovering above me (used to help get me out of bed). I thought about what I'd lost over the years: My career, my health, use of my body, many friends and family. The words of Job came to me:

“I know that my redeemer lives, and that in the end he will stand on the earth. And after my skin has been destroyed, yet in my flesh I will see God; I myself will see him with my own eyes—I, and not another. How my heart yearns within me!” (Job 19.25-27)

 

Throughout the ages, a great sea of heavy-hearted humanity have identified with Job's words, the words of a man who lost everything: his health, his children, his wealth. His "friends" Eliphaz, Bildad and Zophar taunted him under the guise of comfort. Even Job’s wife taunted him: “Do you still retain your integrity? Curse God and die.” (2.9).  And yet, even in his deepest sorrow and discouragement, Job cursed the day he was born, but not God. 

 

Those of us who have passed through that great sea of heavy-hearted humanity, can learn much from Job. Even if we die having lost everything in this world, through faith in Jesus Christ, we will have everything in the next world. Job reminds us that although our flesh will be destroyed, we shall see God. 

 

The love we take from this life will be perfected as we enter God's perfect love. All things will be made new for us who believe in His Son! 

Mark 

 

 

A DIFFERENT KIND OF WITNESS FOR LIFE AND LOVE

 

I've have had multiple sclerosis for 37 years. There were times when the terror of neurological dysfunction seemed almost too great to bare. At the same time, I saw a well-orchestrated campaign by euthanasia/assisted suicide advocates selling the false idea of so-called 'death with dignity' to the public, politicians and the media.  I wanted life with dignity!  Death with dignity is not achieved by injecting someone with poison when they are at their lowest point. That is abandonment not dignity. Death with dignity is not an event, it is a process, the conclusion of having lived with dignity. 

Through my own tears and sorrow of adult-onset degenerative disability, I asked God what He wanted me to do with my situation? He told me not to focus on my own increasing disability but to reach out with a message. What was the message?  Every life is sacred and deserves to be loved, cherished and protected — even if they have ceased to believe that — especially when they have ceased to believe it! And so, I began to take that message to anyone who would listen, and wherever God opened doors. Boy, did He open doors! 

For more than 20 years, I spoke across North America—from Victoria to Prince Award Island in Canada, Boston to Los Angeles in the U.S., from Whitehorse in Canada's Yukon to New Orleans. I spoke in small towns and big cities, to schools and universities, community groups and churches, politicians and government committees. As time passed, travel became increasingly difficult as my disability worsened. Eventually, travelling became so difficult I had to retire from speaking. Then, something else began to weigh on me.

I felt led to write an autobiographical feature length screenplay about my life. I called it TRANSCEND: A Journey Toward Love. Although it deals with abortion, it is not a story about abortion. Yes, it deals with severe disability, but it is not primarily about disability. It obviously deals with euthanasia and assisted suicide, but it is not a story about those things either. TRANSCEND is a love story, the heartbreak and transcending love story of my wife, LaRee, and I, spanning half-a-century as we slowly and painfully gained an ever deepening understanding of love (both human and divine). With God's help, our love transcended our circumstances.  

Then something wonderful happened. I prayed—as I had so often done throughout the years—that if it be God's will, could He raise me from the electric wheelchair I had been in for 16 years. I prayed that if it was His will that He would let me walk again and regain the use of my right arm and hand. It would be enough; even for a short time, even if I needed canes or a walker. In His loving providence, God did raise me out of my wheelchair and walk—albeit on weak and atrophied legs. He returned the use of my arm and hand. I've been walking for close to two years. I hadn't been able to hold anything in my right hand for a quarter of a century, so I began to pen love letters (I'm right handed) each day to my wife. But I had already finished the screenplay.  

It was necessary to rewrite the ending of the script to include this miracle. I knew many people would not believe something so dramatic and unexpected, but it had to be included. I sent the revised script to my friend Joni Eareckson Tada, an internationally renowned Christian disability advocate and prolific author, for her feedback.  She loved it! She gave it her strong endorsement (a copy of it is at the bottom of this post).  

The film industry is hard to break into, particularly for an old man who's never written a screenplay. Most producers won't give an unsolicited screenplay a second glance, and it was no different for me. 

Fortunately, a man who has been involved in Hollywood's movie industry read the script. Frank Eik liked it so much he wants to see it made into a movie. He sent the screenplay to a professional script reader in Hollywood for a critique. He helped me make recommended alterations, corrections and edit the script to tighten the story line and give it some "polish." Mr. Eik will now present TRANSCEND: A Journey Toward Love to a Christian movie producer he knows in Hollywood for consideration. The Director of Content for Pure Flix, a Christian movie streaming service, has also asked to read the script. Will it be made into a movie? I don't know. 

I believe LaRee's and my story is worthy and unique, but I'm biased.  If not, the exercise was educational and cathartic for me. That's worth something. 

THE WHY OF SUFFERING

To read Mark Davis Pickup's latest blog on "The Why of Suffering", go to http://markpickup.org