The Light At The End Of The Tunnel

John 8:12 -- "I am the light of the world. He who follows me shall not walk in darkness, but have the light of life."

The tiny bulb in my red plastic flashlight blinked, tried to spur itself back to life, and then went completely out. Shaking the thing and smacking it against my palm didn't produce results, so my friend and I just stood there, in the darkness for a few seconds. Perhaps, our eyes would adjust and we'd be able to make our way out of this network of old WWII tunnels on the island of Corregidor, just off the shores of Luzon, Philippines.

The Malinta tunnel is one of those intriguing left overs that played an important roll in history. Even though based on foreign soil, General McArthur used it for an office, while the wings were used for emergency medical treatment and barracks - keeping the soldiers relatively safe from the bombing over-head. It's numerous twists and turns create a maze of concrete and stale, cool air - in which my friend and I had become hopelessly turned around.

you can get a good idea of the dark here, just imagine the lightsource gone

In the days of our adventure, the tunnel was not equipped with electricity, and the lights overhead that show current tourists the way in and out, had yet to be installed. So, we were pretty much stuck, trying to feel our way out - listening intently for the subtle change in sound and minute differences in air pressure that would indicate an entryway, or an opening in the concrete walls that surrounded us. It seemed hopeless. In a darkness so black that we could very literally not see our hands in front of our faces - the tremble of panic, slowly bubbled up in the back of my throat. Screaming at the tops of our lungs, would only produce an echo that would bounce off the domed roof ahead and hit our ears hard enough to make them ring. So calling out for help was pointless.

I took a deep breath. My friend did the same. Then we plugged on. Hoping our palms wouldn't disturb a spider nesting deep in the cracked walls and fighting against the fear that the sound of our shuffling feet might not scare off the snakes that called the place home before they were startled into striking. In my desperate attempt to find even the tiniest pinpoint of light - I tried with everything I had to push away thoughts of the assortment of creepy-crawlies that surly lie in wait, just beyond our next foot fall. My shoulders were hunched in my attempt to make myself small - I didn't want to disturb that bats that might hang above our heads, either.

Even now, more than thirty years later, I'll never forget those moments in the dark. I can still smell the earth-laden air and feel the roughness of the concrete under my fingertips. I can hear the crunch of eons of collected dust under our feet and feel the strain behind my eyes while my pupils repeatedly tried to focus on something ... ANYTHING but the unending darkness.

so tricky to avoid dead ends and find the true way out ....

And then it happened. I heard the small change in the echo we produced with our foot steps. I reached out to my left, and sure enough - I hit the rusted re-bar welded together to make a gate. FINALLY! I was confident we'd made it to the infirmary with it's hap-hazard divider of metal and stone.  As we rounded the corner we could see the smallest hint of light refracting off a well rounded wall that still had bullet holes scarring it's surface. Hope sprung up and erupted from us in breathy giggles. If we could see that light - the very real light at the end of the tunnel - we could make our way out to the surface. All we had to do was follow it.

Never have I been more thankful to step out into 104 degree sunshine and humidity so thick that we practically had to swim our way back to base camp. Never have I been more grateful for the light at the end of the tunnel.

In the book of John, Jesus tells us that HE is the light. In the throws of all this dark, all this turbulence and a seemingly unending sea of violent news reports, drug busts, and political take-overs - Jesus is our Light. The only true Light that leads us to life, to brilliant sunshine and warmth. He is the Light our eyes need in order to focus properly, in order to sleep [our eyes need to be exposed to a certain amount of light during the day in order to feel tired and sleepy at night]. Jesus is the Light  - like warm sunshine on our skin and the healthy absorption of natural Vitamin D. The Light that chases away the shadows, the deep cracks and crevasses where an assortment of creepy-crawlies lie in wait. He is everything good that the light brings - everything true and everything stable. All we have to do - is follow Him.