The quote is from one of my favorite novels. I recommend it to anyone who has children, or who loves baseball, or who loves Stand By Me or Shawshank Redemption (same author) ... or who just loves a well written suspense tale.
Or who loves God.
As nine-year-old Trisha McFarland followed her brother and mother on a hike along a stretch of the Appalachian Trail on the Maine-New Hampshire border, she quickly tired of their bickering. Pausing only long enough to allow them to pull ahead so she could no longer hear them, she took a wrong turn.
She quickly became lost in the surrounding wilderness.
Disoriented, she wandered farther and farther away from civilization ... and into danger. Over the next days and nights, she moved deeper and deeper into those dark woods. The circumstances were overwhelming for a nine-year old child. Despite her best efforts, she was just not capable of making it on her own.
And that's where Tom Gordon comes into the novel.
Gordon was, once upon a time, a special kind of relief pitcher for the Boston Red Sox: a Closer. They are brought in near the end of the game to ensure victory, especially when the other team seems about to win.
Faced with mosquitos, loneliness, wasps, hunger, fear, illness, hallucinations —and even grizzlier threats— Trisha depended on her love of Red Sox baseball and Tom Gordon to lift her spirits. Imagining what Tom Gordon would do was, often, all that kept her going. As long as she could tune in to those baseball games on her portable radio and listen to the amazing work of Tom Gordon, Trisha never lost hope. He truly became her beacon in the night.
Like Trisha, the people in this week’s Isaiah and Matthew scriptures lived in deepening darkness, the very shadow of death. Everything was bad, and there seemed no possibility of rescue.
But then, those people saw a great light.
Like them, we, too, can find ourselves lost in a wilderness of deep darkness. It could be the culture that surrounds us or it could be an internal darkness we carry with us. Like them, we need to be looking for a light to lead us.
And like Trisha, we need a beacon of hope. So we, too, can rise from our deep darkness and follow the dawning light, the DaySpring, Jesus.
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PHOTO: Steve Orr
A different version of this reflection, The Girl Who Loved Tom Gordon, appeared in January 2014.
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READINGS FOR THE COMING WEEK
Third Sunday after the Epiphany (January 26, 2014)
https://lectionary.library.vanderbilt.edu//
Isaiah 9:1-4
Psalm 27:1, 4-9
1 Corinthians 1:10-18
Matthew 4:12-23
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Will you be in Waco Friday morning? DaySpring’s Lectionary Breakfast group meets at 8:00 at Our Breakfast Place (formerly named the Egg and I). We would love for you to join us for some illumination as we enjoy great food, tasty scriptures, and each other.
No compass needed ☺️
Enjoy the week!
Steve
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