Published: April 25, 2008 07:29 pm            

Mike Scarlett: Spelunkers find safety in the light

I really love Arkansas, especially it’s many mountains, rivers and caves. On one of my family’s summer vacations to Arkansas my older brother, Steve, who lived there, took my uncle and my brother Phil and I on an excursion into one of those caves.

We took a lantern to light our way and a flashlight. To get into the cave we had to crawl 50 feet on our bellies, until the cave opened up enough for us to stand up. Once inside an eerie feeling fell on me as the lantern cast our shadows on the irregular walls of the cave. I had the thought that if something went wrong we were on our own. I could see the headlines in my minds eye, “Mother Mourns Loss of Three Sons” or “Remains of the Missing Scarlett Boys Found in Cave.”

Steve led the way as we walked deeper and deeper into the cave. After we had walked for what seemed like a mile, we stopped to rest. While we were resting, the lantern began to flicker. As it flickered, the light began to get dimmer and dimmer, until it finally went out. At that moment a thick darkness fell upon us.

Steve handed me his flashlight, and told me to turn it on so he could see to relight the lantern. I turned the switch back and forth, but could not get it to work. The thought occurred to me that maybe the batteries were turned around, so I unscrewed the top of the flashlight to get to the batteries. As soon as I opened it up, the batteries fell to the ground. A sinking feeling hit me as I heard the batteries rolling away, down the sloped floor of the cave.

Steve yelled, “What was that?” When I told him that I lost the batteries, he scolded me very harshly. He then lighted match after match in an attempt to light the lantern. When he was down to his last match a panic hit me. As the last match faded, so did our hopes of relighting the lantern.

As we sat there in the darkness, my imagination began to run wild. It was so dark I could not see my fingers as I held them close to my eyes. And then I heard a noise that sent chills up my spine. It sounded like a bat. As the high-pitched noise grew louder and louder, fear gripped me. I called out to my uncle, but he didn’t answer.

I was really scared and began to pray. I said, “Lord if you get me out of this one, I’ll do anything you want. I’ll even be a missionary, if you just get me out of here.”

And then suddenly the cave exploded with light as my brother lit the lantern. It had all been a hoax. My brother had staged the whole thing. He had caused the lantern to go out on purpose. He wasn’t out of matches, and he had rigged the flashlight so it wouldn’t work either. As it turned out my uncle was the one making the sound of a bat. I have to admit that it was a pretty good prank, even if it took 10 years off my life.

As we retraced our steps, I began to see a faint light off in the distance, which was the opening of the cave. I was relieved to see the light, because I knew that even if my brother’s light really quit working, I would be able to find my way out of the cave.

My experience draws attention to the fact that where there is no light, all that is left is darkness. In contrast, where there is even a little bit of light (such as a tiny match), the darkness is forced to leave. I believe this truth is a key to helping us overcome the problems in our lives.

Phrases such as “the light came on,” “let’s shed a little light on the subject, “light my path,” “he is a light,” etc., point to the idea that light is associated with direction, truth, knowledge, safety, goodness, etc. On the other hand phrases such as “I was in the dark,” “it was a dark time in our history,” “he went over to the dark side,” etc., suggest that the dark is associated with lack of understanding, danger, evil, etc.

I think the likelihood of overcoming problems in our lives is directly affected by whether we move towards the light or towards the darkness. If you are experiencing difficulties in your life, take stock of whether your pursuits are moving you towards the light or towards the darkness. In closing I challenge you, that when faced with a choice, to always choose the one that moves you toward the light.



Mike Scarlett is a Christian counselor and may be

contacted by going to mikescarlett.com

or by calling 817-933-5041.

        

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