Too Used to the Dark

We’re getting too used to the dark;
We have been learning to live in the night.
We have forgotten how the world looks in the light.

We are getting too used to the surface;
Forgetting that there’s an underneath.
We have been drowning ourselves in the well of our unbelief.

We have forgotten the meaning of goodness.
We have forgotten what is meant by right.
We have given up believing that believing in God
Will carry us out of the dark world of our night.

About This Song:
I wrote this song in the late 1960s and included it in a musical drama I’d composed–to be sung by members of a band who were doing their best to resist Christianity. So these lyrics are not coming from a Christian perspective.

M. Brent Coleman, my pastor during my first few post-college years, gave a great sermon illustration one Sunday. An illustration that jumped out, grabbed my attention, and refused to let go. A song waiting to be written.

He talked about walking into an oppressively dark restaurant. He could tell how dark it was because of his inability to see well when he first went inside. That was because of the contrast; he had just been outside enjoying the daylight. So the difference between outside and inside was as unmistakable as, uh, day and night.

The longer he stayed inside, though, the less conscious he was of the darkness. Of its being so objectionable. He grew used to it. More accepting of it. More comfortable about being there, no matter how uneasy he’d felt at first.

When we’re walking with God in His Way, we walk in His light. A light like no other. We’re “outdoors” in a special kind of way. There’s no stumbling when we’re walking close behind Him.

But when something tempts us enough that we go off on our own sinful way, we move from the safety of His light to the dangers of darkness. At first we realize we’ve strayed–our consciences are apt to bother us–but the longer we remain in the darkness of that “restaurant of sin,” the more comfortable we feel. And the less we worry about the pitfalls we may encounter.

A Child of God must be constantly on the alert. We can’t avoid temptations–even Jesus was tempted–but we can and must resist them. And remain in the safety of God’s Light.

Free lead sheets (lyrics, tune, and chords) are available for many of my songs. Click on the Lead Sheets tab at the top of this page to see whether one is available for this song. Videos for many of my songs, some recorded at home and some at our church’s nursing home ministry, can be accessed at my website, RogerBruner.com, under the Listen tab.

Look for me again next Wednesday. Better still, subscribe to receive these weekly posts by email.

Best regards,
Roger

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About Roger E. Bruner

Seventy-five-year-old Roger E. Bruner is the author and publisher of twenty Christian novels and the writer of more than two hundred Christian songs and choruses, a handful of musical dramas, and a number of shorter works. He sings, plays guitar and bass, and records his original songs in his home studio. He is active in his church's nursing home ministry He also plays bass guitar on the church raise team. Married for seventeen years to Kathleen, he has one grown daughter. Kathleen has two. Roger enjoys reading, moderate exercise, photography and book cover design (he's done all of his own except for Rosa No-Name), playing Snood, making walking sticks, and complaining about the state of the nation while continuing to pray for it.

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