Camping in the Dark

I was a Boy Scout growing up.  Just about had to be.  It ran in the family.  Dad was a volunteer for the local troop.  I have two brothers who are Eagle Scouts.  Both of them were employed with the Scouts for awhile.  One was a district executive.  My career with them was not as long and distinguished.  Didn't manage to reach Eagle status. I became too interested in music and girls at the time, not necessarily in that order.

But I did have the "privilege" of reaching what they call the Order of the Arrow in my mid-teens, and experiencing the initiation that went with attaining it. It consisted of being dumped out in the middle of the woods, far off from the rest of the world, by an adult leader, who then left me all alone to sleep there overnight.   I had a sleeping bag, tent and a few supplies in my back pack. 

I got myself set up alright. But do you know how many noises there can be in the middle of the night in the woods when you are all by yourself?  Seems like hundreds, some imaginary, some real, and some of which I didn't know the difference.

As nature would have it, invariably, I had to get up in the middle of the night and go outside to go to the bathroom.  At first I couldn't find my flashlight.  It was pitch black outside.  I knew there was an outhouse about 100 feet away.  Could I make it till morning?  Nope. Something I ate for dinner wasn't sitting right with me.  Finally, I found the flashlight and trekked out to do my business with the light shining a a path and leading the way.  I had just enough light to help me take the next few steps to where I was going.

It gave me a better understanding of the words in scripture describing God and his Word as "a lamp unto my feet and a light unto my path."  May you remember where to find your spiritual flashlight, especially in your dark hour.