Fade to Black

12/5/20        Adam (see HERE)
 

Fade to black….

 That’s how an otherwise positive and outgoing young man named Adam described what he believes happens after we die.

 It reminded me of probably the darkest place in the book of Psalms – Psalm 88 – which describes the despair and hopelessness its writer was feeling during a very dark season of life.

 Listen to some of these lines penned several thousand years ago:

 “I am overwhelmed with troubles

    and my life draws near to death.

I am counted among those who go down to the pit;

    I am like one without strength.

I am set apart with the dead,

    like the slain who lie in the grave,

whom you remember no more,

    who are cut off from your care.”

 

“You have put me in the lowest pit,

    in the darkest depths.

Your wrath lies heavily on me;

    you have overwhelmed me with all your waves.

You have taken from me my closest friends

    and have made me repulsive to them.

I am confined and cannot escape;

    my eyes are dim with grief.”

 

It ends with the sad comment “darkness is my closest friend”, which is why Adams “fade to black” comment reminded me of the Psalm.

 Yet, dark as it is, this Psalm has a spark of hope in the midst of the darkness.  Throughout the Psalm, he writes as if God is actually listening.  He knows his words matter.  He might be venting now, but I believe he knows there is light at the end of the tunnel. 

 There are other Psalms in which the writer is obviously venting their frustration and despair to God, but as far as I know Psalm 88 is the only one in which the writer doesn’t somehow resolve his feelings with faith.  In this case, the faith came at the beginning:

 “Lord, you are the God who saves me;

    day and night I cry out to you.

May my prayer come before you;

    turn your ear to my cry.”

 I think Psalm 88 is a powerful reminder that life with God still takes us through many peaks and valleys, like the “Valley of the Shadow of Death” in Psalm 23, sometimes we might see an end to the dark seasons we find ourselves in.

 Sometimes we just need to turn arond from staring out into oblivion, and we find that God was right there with us all along.

 Despite his bleak belief in a future of “fade to black”, our conversation led me to believe that Adam, too, believes that there is a God who is listening, and that his life has significance.  I did my best to try to communicate the good news of hope that is the Gospel. There is a light at the end of the tunnel, even if it hasn’t come into view just yet.

 Thanks, Adam, for allowing me to record our conversation.  It can be seen on my YouTube Channel.  https://youtu.be/BUnq4GIlLfk