Struggling down a wooded mountain ridge in the dark of night, our partner stopped for breath. Looking around, she said, “What a terrible thing it must be without the light of the Truth. You wouldn’t know where you were, which direction to go; you would run into obstacles not knowing they were there and you could never find the path of life. Without true light, people must sometimes feel desperately lost and greatly fear what lies ahead.”
Hiking with our cameras, we had seen some big game on a distant rise several steep mountain slopes away. The four-mile traverse proved slower than we had expected. Eventually we realized the trek back would be formidable and we would have trouble returning to the trail down the outside of the mountain before night fell.
The temperature would drop to 5-10 degrees Fahrenheit and we were not equipped for overnight in the open. So we turned back before reaching our objective.
Darkness descends
The return hike was a tortured race against the coming darkness. An ascent of some 2,000 feet was required and unfortunately, part of the traverse was across loose rocks that constantly gave way and impeded our footing. Progress was slow, steep and sometimes painful.
Darkness won. We struggled over the top of the rim not certain where we were. We thought we were close to the path we had taken up the mountain and our one feeble flashlight seemed to confirm we had found the beginning of the right trail. Then that light went out. We hurriedly inserted back-up batteries but somehow the flashlight struck a rock and would work no more.
Darkness held us in its grip. Even then, however, we felt the way down could be found. If we just kept going downhill, surely we would cross the path.
The struggle began — a slow agony of stumbling over dead-fall logs, slipping on patches of snow, always keeping hands up to feel for tree branches. Slowly we moved downhill, but no path. Maybe we had crossed it and didn’t realize it in the dark. Try to the right and uphill was the suggestion. So we led in that direction but still no path.
We gave up on finding the path. We thought just going downhill would bring us to a known area. But to our dismay, at the bottom was a stream that was not at all familiar. We tried to walk along it, but it dropped so quickly we had to climb out the opposite side and try to follow it from above. This proved no help, for the stream continued to drop rapidly and soon fell away beneath a ridge which was too steep to descend in the dark. We couldn’t tell if the slide down would be 10 feet or 60. We could not go down. We tried to ascend the slope and found it much too steep for our exhausted condition.
After two hours of struggle we noticed that, darkly outlined against the sky, was a ridge line that was decidedly in the wrong position. We were disoriented.
Because it was dark when we came over the edge, we didn’t recognize that we were a half mile further along the top of the crater than where we had entered it.
Unknown to us, our plight was worsened in that we had worked our way onto a ridge that was angling back into the basin; we were going west instead of east and didn’t know it. We had no light to provide guidance and had never thought to bring a compass.
Ignorance worsened our case
There were some signposts if only we could read them. Even in the night, God leaves the guidance of the stars and constellations. Unfortunately, we had forgotten long ago which part of the Big Dipper indicated the North Star. The true light of the sun had gone from our lives and ignorance blinded our understanding to take advantage of the help God did afford.
We were lost at 11,000 feet in the mountains at night. Without light, we were without hope of escape. The only reasonable thing to do was to wait out the night.
The comfort of fire would have greatly helped. But the few matches we had were years old. Some would not light at all, some burned out too fast and others blew out in a slight breeze.
As the night deepened, the cold increased and so did our discomfort. Sleep was virtually impossible and we yearned for light, even the first, faint glimmerings of pre-dawn light.
Like many a person who is spiritually lost and knows it, we moved too quickly when some light finally appeared. We walked, scrambled and slid down the precarious descent to the stream bed. Surely if we followed it, we would be led back to the highway at some point.
Going the wrong way
It was not until the sun came up, however, that we could really tell our true direction. The sun told us what we did not want to accept — we were going the wrong way.
Right then, we should have reversed direction. Although we did not understand how we had become so turned around, we should have acknowledged the mistake and changed our course. But that would have meant going uphill and, at our stage of exhaustion, going downhill was far easier. We rationalized. Capitulating to our weakened condition, we continued downward.
Surely if we kept going in one direction we would come out at some road or trail that would lead us to a way of escape.
The distant prospect looked hopeful. Something was ahead. Either a lake -perhaps Bighorn Lake which somebody said was linked by a road to the highway –or a major trail which would lead us to habitation, but our hopes were only illusory.
The wrong way doesn’t work. After a trudging, painful hour, a sound ahead was growing in volume. Within minutes, the stream turned into a 40-foot waterfall, dropping through a narrow gorge. There was no way down. The only way around was too difficult for our partner and the way back was now much too arduous for her to attempt.
The words inevitably came to mind, “without hope and without God in the world” all because of the lack of light.
In this case, we were not without God. Even when we do foolish things, the angel of the LORD mercifully watches over those who fear Him. One party did hike back and out. Authorities were alerted and a trained rescue team went into action with, thankfully, successful results.
The blessing of light
We learned some practical lessons for any future wilderness hiking and a great spiritual message was reinforced. Without light from God, we are utterly hopeless.
What a tremendous blessing is ours in knowing the light of the Truth. We know the sure word of prophecy which is as a light shining in a dark place. While the hopes of others ebb and flow with current events, we can see the objective with great clarity. Illuminated by the light of the promises of God, we know the Lord is coming and we can walk confidently toward the coming kingdom.
And we know the path. We can see it plainly in the light of the gospel of Christ. While others cannot see the pitfalls of unbelief, hatred, strife, drunkenness, fornication and arrogance in the darkness of this world, we can see the pathway that leads to the kingdom and life. What a blessing!
Let us never desire darkness or the ways of darkness. It is agony to be lost in the darkness, stumbling into one obstacle after another. It is a great joy to have the light. Let us walk while the light is shining.
The Origin of the Organic World – Part One