February 19, 2026 - Good Morning! It’s Thursday, February 19.
It’s been a bit of a topsy-turvy winter here in Tenaha. Today the temperature is supposed to top 80 degrees, and just three weeks ago we were in the middle of an ice storm. Oh well... Texas weather! During that icy week, the electricity at my house was off for seven days. Lots of candles and flashlights and occasional stumbling around at night. We went to bed with the chickens and got up with the chickens. And we don’t even have any chickens!
It was a dark week. Darkness. What do we, here in the 21st century, really know about darkness? With our street lights and floodlights and security lights, we live in a world full of light, a world that never experiences true darkness. I remember, when I was eight years old, going on a family vacation to Carlsbad Caverns in New Mexico. Maybe you’ve been there. We took a tour that went deep down into that cave. Suddenly our guide said, “Nobody move, I’m going to turn out the lights”. And then he did. And this city boy, who grew up amid the bright lights of Houston, Texas, for the first time, experienced true darkness.
I know I wasn’t the only one in our tour group that was mighty relieved when he turned the lights back on. I’ve never forgotten that moment. And I’ve never had that kind of moment since. The people of the Bible experienced that kind of darkness every night of their lives. So, it’s no wonder that we have verses like these -
The people walking in darkness have seen a great light. Isaiah 9:2
God is light, in Him there is no darkness at all. I John 1:5
You are a chosen people, a royal priesthood, a holy nation, a people belonging to God, that you may declare the praises of Him who called you out of darkness into His wonderful light. I Peter 2:9
And you know who else experienced true darkness? The writers of most of our favorite hymns. These old worship songs, that still resound in many sanctuaries each Sunday morning, were mainly written before 1900. And if they were composed at night, it was by the light of a candle or a kerosene lamp. So, it’s no wonder that we have songs like this -
I have come from the darkness to the light of the Lord, I have come from the night to the day
He has guided my footsteps in the truth of His Word, by His love He has shown me the way
I have come from the darkness into light, to the light of redemption from sin
O my soul will rejoice in His might, for my Savior dwells within
Meet you back here tomorrow,
David
cindertex50@yahoo.com
