Dark before the dawn

‘It’s always darkest, just before the dawn’ – how many times have you heard that statement in various movies or TV shows? Usually it’s when the hero is trying to motivate and reassure a group of people who have been through a great deal of hardship and are ready to give up.

Unfortunately, the idea of it actually being darkest before dawn is not true – if you were to google it, you’d find something like this: “The answer is unequivocally no. The brightness of the night sky varies depending on the Moon's appearance, as well as on artificial lighting on the ground. Without moonlight or light from artificial sources, the light produced from stars does not change at all during the night.” (Davidson Institute 2017)

In the movies (in most cases), the hero gives a rousing speech, rallies the good folks who then go out and triumph over whatever evil has been plaguing them!

In reality, sadly it’s quite a different story. We all have hardships to bear, and especially over the last few years it seems that there is very little, if any, respite from the world’s troubles. Going back to our metaphor, it feels really dark and has done for some time.

But without a hero to give us a great speech what do we do? One thing you could try is to open a bible – might sound a bit lame, but in its pages you will find verses like this where Jesus says “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, NKJV) and “I have come as a light into the world, that whoever believes in me should not abide in darkness.” (John 12:46, NKJV)

If you’re sick of feeling like you’re always in the dark – do something about it, open a Bible and take a step towards the light!

References

Davidson institute 2017, Weizmann Institute, accessed 19 June 2022, <https://davidson.weizmann.ac.il/en/online/askexpert/sky-darkest-just-dawn>