Goodbye to fear of the dark
By Bruce Porter
Hillsboro Mennonite Brethren Church
I have to admit that I was afraid of the dark when I was a child. I've never taken the time to really analyze why. Maybe I heard one too many scary stories about monsters in the closet. Or maybe my parents allowed me to watch too many of those old hokey "B" horror movies that were really fake looking to adults but made a huge impression on a child.
Regardless of the initial cause for my phobia, it was present none-the less. So much so, that I remember going to great lengths to be tucked safely in bed before the light was turned out and the door opened (you have to leave the door open for a quick exit.)
Having to share my bedroom with my older brother made that easy enough. After all, his bed was right next to the door and the light switch, so he always turned the light off.
At some point though, I think he surmised my fear and proposed that we trade off turning the lights out. I still think he did it just to bug me. I can remember getting my bed ready, turning down the covers, so as to be able to turn off the light then literally running and jumping into my bed, throwing the covers safely over my head, as quickly as possible.
One time, knowing it was my night to turn off the light, I experimented with different ways to turn off the light from my bed. I had no luck with just throwing pillows at the switch in hopes of turning it off that way.
So, I eventually created an elaborate "remote" mechanism for turning off the light by tying and taping a string around the light switch, taking the string down to wrap around the doorstop on the door, and laying the string on the ground over to my bed. One pull of the string and the light was turned off and the door opened. It was quite an operation but the great thing is that it really worked.
I'm older now, but I'm still not to fond of the dark. I don't make my wife turn off the light at night because I have an antique reading light that hangs on the headboard of my bed (the light actually belonged to my grandmother, so maybe I inherited my fear of the dark from her.) This makes it easy for me to turn off the light while snuggled safely under the covers.
I know that all this "fear of the dark" stuff sounds a bit crazy for an adult. But in my own defense, let me point out that I am actually not supposed to like the darkness. In First Thessalonians 5:5 the Apostle Paul wrote to the Christians saying, "You are children of the light and of the day. We don't belong to darkness and night."
So, as a Christian, I suppose it is natural for me to prefer the light to darkness. I get really excited, too, when I read in Revelation 22:5, that someday in Heaven, "There will be no night there — no need for lamps or sun — for the Lord God will shine on them
How cool is that? Goodbye to fear of the dark!
