Straight Paths: A Lamp Unto My Feet and A Light Unto My Path

A Lamp Unto My Feet and A Light Unto My Path

Loren Hardin

For The Ashland Beacon

     My three companions and I slid our canoes into the waters of Tygart Creek, about eight o’clock that early spring morning.  The redbud and spring flowers were in full bloom.  The air was crisp, and the sky was clear and a brilliant blue. It was one of those days when you look up and around, marvel, and say to yourself, “What a glorious day!”  

     The current was gentle but swift enough to require little paddling effort on our part. About two hours into our trip one of the fellows asked if we could beach for a while so he could photograph the spring flora. We had just passed through a gorge, and the creek made a left turn.  On the right was a wide flat area covered with wildflowers, ferns, and a grove of redbuds. There was a middle-aged fellow squatting by his fishing pole on the right bank, smoking a cigarette. He greeted us with, “good morning”.

     The hills that bordered the creek were extremely steep, so I wondered how in the world that fellow accessed the bank.  As I explored the area, I noticed the mouth of a cave measuring about fifteen feet high and about thirty feet wide.  Upon closer examination I could see a light at the other end, about a hundred yards or so away. I surmised, “So this is how that fellow made it down to the creek.” Being an old spelunker, how could I not explore the cave and discover what was at the other end?

     As I walked towards the cave entrance the fellow fishing on the bank stood up, extended his flashlight towards me, and asked, “Hey, would you like to use my flashlight?”  I replied, “No thanks; I think I can make my way through okay without it” He said,” Okay”, and shook his head as if to say, “Well, have it your way”. I lived to regret that decision!

     About a hundred feet into the cave with the light from the entrance behind me, the light from the exit before me only served to blind me, much like someone shining a flashlight directly into your eyes at night.  I thought, “But I can make it. After all, it’s not very far.  I’ll just be careful and feel my way through”. 

     The cave floor was spattered with small and large rocks and riddled with holes and crevices.

The next thing I knew I stepped into a deep hole and sheered the skin off my right shin.  But in my stubbornness, I continued. After all, I was a spelunker; I’d spent days inside caves.  As I crawled over a large rock, I banged my head on a stalactite nearly knocking myself out, seriously!    

     About halfway through I became almost paralyzed with fear. I knew from experience, that at any moment I could step into a deep hole and that I may never make it out of alive.  I thought, “I could kick myself in the rear end!  I wouldn’t be in this predicament if I’d only accepted that light when the fellow offered it to me!”  

     Immediately, like an epiphany, the Psalm of David illuminated my heart and mind, “Your word is a lamp unto my feet and a light unto my path,” (Psalm 119:105).  I was immediately humbled and thought about the many predicaments I’d gotten myself into, all because I’d turned God’s light down; all because I’d said in my heart, “No thanks, I don’t need it. I can make my way through without it.”

     I turned around and groped my way back out. When I emerged from the cave I was battered, bruised and bloody, but at least I lived to regret it. The fellow was still on the bank fishing, but I was too humiliated to make eye contact with him.  I imagined him shaking his head and thinking, “What an idiot! He should have taken the light when I offered it to him.”

      “I am the light of the world.  He who follows me shall not walk in darkness but have the light of life.” (John 8:12)

      Loren Hardin was a social worker with SOMC-Hospice for twenty-nine years. He can be contacted at 740.357.6091 or at lorenhardin53@gmail.com. You can order Loren's book, "Straight Paths: Insights for living from those who have finished the course" at Amazon and Barnes and Noble.