The Light of All Mankind

"When we have found what life's really worth, 

There'll be peace on earth!"

"In Him was life, 

And that life was the light of all mankind.

The light shines in the darkness,

And the darkness can never extinguish it!"

~John 1:4-5

Last week, I watched part of a show on Netflix called 13 Reasons Why.  (Spoiler alert...)

It's about a teenage girl who commits suicide, leaving behind a series of tapes where she tells her side of the story about 13 people who hurt her, people she believes to be responsible for her death by suicide. I watched the first two episodes and knew I couldn't watch the entire thing, so I skipped around through some of the middle, then watched the last episode in full. The suicide scene in the final episode is graphic and disturbing, as is the fact that this show is marketed to middle school and high school kids. The intended message was for kids to be kinder to each other and be aware that their words and actions often affect others more than they realize. But it glorifies the suicide-as-revenge idea, which is just so dangerous, and it places the blame for her death on everyone but the one person who chose and physically caused it (including blaming the school counselor - who dedicated his life to helping students - because he was unable to guess and fully resolve the problem she was only willing to hint about).

Obviously, I have a lot of problems with the overall content and marketing and message of the show. It struck a chord with me on a personal level for reasons I may struggle to put into words. Life can be hard and messy and confusing, and it's incredibly painful when people you love walk away or betray you. The idea of blaming them and making them regret that choice can be appealing - and I most definitely understand that. People who have not been there do not understand or sympathize, but when you're under deep depression or demonic attack (or both), it's a real struggle to see past yourself and your immediate, excruciating pain. You feel disconnected, and what once was meaningful feels hollow... and you can quickly become deceived about what your life is really worth to God, to other people, and in your own eyes. You feel like you're alone in the darkness, and it's scary, and you can't see anything clearly. Deception colors your reality, and nothing really matters to you.

....I think that love is "greater than" faith and hope because love is the only one you can still feel when you're truly at rock bottom. The love of Christ becomes the light at the end of the dark tunnel, so to speak. And you can choose to walk toward love and leave the darkness behind, or you can turn away from it and let the pain and bitterness consume you. It's literally your choice between abundant life or allowing the enemy to steal, kill, and destroy you. Life begets life and death begets death... and your choices in those moments will affect everyone around you!

God knows exactly how to pull us back toward love and light, all the way back to full faith and hope, and I'm so thankful He does not ever give up on us!!

My thoughts on all this go deeper than what I can write today, but that's okay. It all comes back to Jesus loving us enough to forgive our betrayal and die in our place. Which brings us to the resurrection triumph of Easter Sunday, and my favorite two verses in the entire Bible:

"In Him was life, and that life was the light of all mankind. The light shines in the darkness, and the darkness can never extinguish it."