And there is NO Darkness for God is our light and Jesus is the lamp we carry, the light that goes with us. Like the full moon in its brightness in the middle of a New England night, so is our Lord’s presence in the dark nights of our souls.

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The Dark Night of the Soul

The Rev. Gail Keeney-Mulligan, May 2007

Today we had been looking forward to hearing a world known spiritual leader and priest of the Church of England, Father Kenneth Leech. He was to be in New England and New York for two weeks engaging the Christian community in issues and concerns of faithful Christian living. But he sent an email to all of us the day he was to board the plane, telling us he would not be coming. He told his friends of many years that he was suffering severe depression. He then encouraged us to move forward with our plans, having the events in his stead, knowing him as well as we do, preaching and teaching what he would have said.

So, in the past two weeks I have had to reflect on all Father Leech has given to me in and through the years in his mentoring and modeling of the life of discipleship and now I share these things with you rooted in today’s scriptures.

The first thing I want to bring to your attention is the humility with which Father Leech deals with his conditions in such an open way. It is a witness to all of us of our human condition. In spiritual terms it can be called the dark night of the soul and it is something everyone of us deals with in some way or another at various times in our lives. It can be depression, grief, anxiety or despair and we can feel totally powerless in its control over our lives.

But Ken shows us a way, perhaps the only real way through it. He does not hide it. He shares it with others without fear, but in need of prayers and community. He reaches out and we reach back and surround. We cannot be ashamed of our need and we cannot go it alone.

The one thing Ken has always emphasized in his spiritual direction is a life of discipline, specifically the discipline of prayer centered lives… not just Sunday mornings. We need to be literally and metaphorically, on our knees with God every day, bearing our souls, praying for each other, humbling ourselves before our maker and the giver of all we have. We need to be offering ourselves in service and as a living sacrifice to and for others in their suffering and need. And most of all we need to listen in prayer. Any strong relationship with another involves listening as well as talking, but we do not often think of prayer as a time of listening.

Today’s scriptures are about God’s message to his disciples, messages given in visions. Visions are a scary thing to many people and are often scoffed at. Yet, we all ARE given a vision of God’s dominion in this world and the next.

In the Acts of the Apostles, Paul has a vision of God calling him to a new place where people have not yet heard the Good News of the Love of God in Christ and he dares to step out of the familiar and to go where God is calling him to be. There he stays with the other disciples for a while teaching and preaching and then on their Sabbath day, they go outside the walls of the city to pray. There they find Lydia, who is hungry to receive the Gospel and she takes this news home. All of her household is then baptized and her heart and there are open to God’s word and God’s people and she invites the disciples home. In Baptism, the doors of our hearts, homes and church should be opened to receive others in faith, charity and community. The vision of God’s heart open to all and God reaching out through disciples to gather others and in turn for the gathered to open our hearts and homes in hospitality is a vision of God’s Kingdom for all of us. Is this a vision we share?

One of the first things I experienced in my time with Ken Leech in His ministry in East London was his ministry in the parish of St. Botolph’s. I learned that the parish is not the building, nor its members. In our tradition, rooted in scripture, the parish is the area of mission given to a congregation. Ken Leech’s parish was an area of large immigrant populations, from Africa and Asia. The parish had Christians, Jews, Muslims and Hindus. It had large numbers of street people, homeless because of mental illness, addiction and poverty and all of these were the parish of St. Botolph.

Likewise, the parish of St. John’s is New Milford. We are planted here in mission to and for the people of New Milford and we should share Paul’s vision of being called out to the people in the places we work, the places we shop, in our neighborhoods and on the streets to share the love of God as disciples of our Lord.

The second vision in today’s scripture is in Revelation. John speaks of seeing the Holy City of Jerusalem, the city of God coming down out of the heavens. There is no temple, no church building, no Cathedral. For God is the temple in which we dwell.

And there is NO Darkness for God is our light and Jesus is the lamp we carry, the light that goes with us. Like the full moon in its brightness in the middle of a New England night, so is our Lord’s presence in the dark nights of our souls.

The vision of this Temple of God in which we dwell has other important images for us. It is a Temple where the gates will NEVER be shut. It doors are always open to all and people from all nations will come into the Temple with glory. You and I will never be shut out, nor will anyone else who comes seeking the light and the love of God.

And then John speaks of seeing the river of waters that flow from the throne of God and the fruit trees that grow on either side of it bearing fruit and bringing peace. We are those trees, if we are planted in our lives beside that river. We will bear fruit.

So, I believe Father Ken Leech would say to us today:
1. Keep the vision of God’s Holy City in our midst and all around us.
2. The Temple in which we are to dwell and pray is not a cathedral, or a church on Sundays, but everywhere and all the time, for God is our temple and we dwell in God always and forever.
3. There is always, always light in the darkness. The light of God IS here and there. It leads us through the night, through our grief, our depression, or anxiety and despair.

If we ground ourselves in prayer…

If we seek God’s Light, Love and Life…

The river of life is our God and it is eternal. So, plant yourself by the river. Walk in the light of God and carry Jesus as you lamp. Be the people of God The people called out of this place to be with those who hunger for God’s love, to share the Good News of God in Christ. Open your hearts to God’s presence and abide with God. Open your eyes to God’s light shining in the darkest of nights and carry the lamp of Christ with you. God’s spirit dwells in you and there and there only can we find peace which the world cannot give. Listen! Hear the words of our Lord as He speaks to you:

“Peace I leave with you. MY peace I give to you. I do not give as the world gives. DO NOT let your hearts be troubled. Do not let them be afraid…. Amen