A group of children gather with their beloved Aunt Ruth on a verandah at twilight, drawn into a gentle spiritual conversation prompted by a chance observation. She has overheard a young boy named Ted Jones telling his grandmother he cannot see the way home in the dark, to which the grandmother replies that if he stays close behind her, they will soon reach the light. Aunt Ruth seizes upon this small, real-life moment as a perfect illustration of Christian faith and the act of following Jesus through life's uncertainties. She explains to the children that all people encounter moments of darkness in their daily lives, whether through sorrow, temptation, misunderstanding, difficulty, or sin. Each person's darkness is personal and particular to them. The path forward in such moments, she tells them, is to follow Jesus closely, for He has promised that those who follow Him shall not walk in darkness but shall have the light of life. Oswald, one of the children, raises the concern that many of life's difficulties are small and yet deeply troubling, such as a poorly prepared lesson made worse by a headache or an unkind word. Aunt Ruth advises him that the right response is to bring the difficulty honestly before God in prayer, ask for help specifically in the name of Jesus, and then proceed calmly with the most sensible next step available, trusting that an answer will come, even if through simple and unexpected means. She draws a further picture of a timid child who feels safe climbing dark stairs simply because a trusted parent walks ahead. Little Ted Jones could not see the dark lane, but his grandmother knew every step of it, having walked it many times before. Trust in her knowledge was enough to carry him safely to the lit and welcoming cottage door. In the same way, Jesus knows every difficult stretch of the path His followers must walk, and He is sufficient to lead them through it. Tom raises a deeper concern, noting that sometimes the path feels so rough and lonely that one loses sight of the Guide entirely and cannot be confident He is present. Aunt Ruth acknowledges this honestly and counsels that in such moments the believer should speak directly to Jesus, telling Him the way feels hard, and ask the Spirit to make His presence felt. The assurance will come. She points to the great rest that comes with certainty that Jesus knows the way and has Himself passed through every temptation. Rose quietly observes that greater confidence in how Jesus leads would naturally produce greater peace with one's circumstances, touching, as Aunt Ruth recognises, upon one of the deep questions of the spiritual life. Aunt Ruth illustrates this through the image of a skilled Alpine mountain guide. Before an ascent, the traveller secures a guide who is strong, reliable, and intimately familiar with that particular mountain. Once the agreement is made, the traveller surrenders direction entirely to the guide, placing his feet precisely where the guide's feet have been, cutting each step in the ice with unquestioning trust. There is no safety in any other posture. When the summit is finally reached and they stand together beneath the open sky, the traveller will not regret having placed his confidence so completely in another's hands. So it will be, Aunt Ruth tells the children, when followers of Jesus at last reach their journey's end. They will look back and find those words entirely and personally true: that the one who followed Him did not walk in darkness, but came at last into the light of life.
By Catharine Shaw · First published 2004 · Genre: Mystery, Thriller, Crime Fiction