He awoke struggling to breath. The air was full of dirt and dust and at first he thought it was the dust and dirt that made the room dark but the longer he lay awake, the more he realized that the darkness was not leaving.
He slowly became aware of the pain in his head; he rubbed his head and found the spot quickly. He felt gingerly, feeling if the was bleeding because the darkness was so black that he could not see anything. He was amazed at how the darkness affected his ability to even sense his own body. He slowly ran his fingers over his body to see if there were any other injuries, any places where he was cut or bleeding and he found none. He raised his hands around him to see if he could sit up, and awkwardly sat up.
What happened? Where am I? His thoughts raced and he sat alone in the darkness. He was afraid to move, he couldn't see anything. He thought his eyes would eventually adjust to his surrounding and that he would be able to see a little but the longer he sat there the more he realized that was futile. He was in total darkness. He could not see a thing.
His head was really throbbing; he gently rubbed the large bump on the back of his head. He touched the spot and slowly touched his fingers to his mouth to see if there was blood, but he tasted none. Other than the bump on his head, he was not hurt but the darkness was overwhelming. He could see nothing and the darkness seemed to even affect his memory. It was so dark, he felt so alone, more alone that he could remember. At that thought a small flicker seemed to happen in his brain. He had not been alone; there had been someone with him. He brain seemed to stutter into action. Who had he been with?
And then as if someone turned on his brain, he remembered a name. He had been exploring a cave with his good friend Tom. It was something that they had done before in this very cave. There had been a cave-in. The roof had given way and … that’s all he could remember.
“Tom,” he thought suddenly, “Where is Tom?”
He spun his head around the room hoping he would sense his friend but but he sensed nothing but the darkness. He called out Tom’s name but there was no answer. He was frantic, where was Tom? Was he hurt? Was he lying right next to him but because of the darkness he could not make out his friend? What if he is bleeding to death right over there? He screamed again, “Tom where are you?”
But no one answered his call.
He started to crawl around to see if he could find his friend but he ran into the solid wall of the cave. When we began to feel his way around the wall of the cave, he pushed on a rock and it started a small rumble of rocks falling down around him. He froze. He could not afford to have more rocks fall on top of him. He was fortunate that he only had the bump on his head. At least he was alive even if he was a prisoner in the total darkness of the cave.
He sat back against the solid wall of the cave and starred out into the darkness, trying to see something. He shuddered in the darkness. He wasn’t really cold but the darkness was horrible. It engulfed him, holding him in it’s icy grip . He put his hand up to his face and no matter how close he held his hand to his eye, he could not see he hand.
He screamed out “help” but no one answered. He thought he heard a moan but then realized it was the cave moaning as rocks crushed rocks and the dirt shifted. The earth moaned under the new strain of the cave in.
How he was panicked! His mind raced through countless scenarios and none of them seemed good. What if Tom were trapped on the other side of the slide, blocked in just like he was with no escape? What if he was dead, buried under the rock side? Who knew where they were? Had they told anyone that they were going exploring? He could not remember, his memory was still fuzzy. Surely they had told someone. How long till they were missed? How much oxygen was there in the cave he was in? How large was the space. It seemed tight and small in the total darkness. How big was the slide? Could they dig him out without another slide? How long would he have to stay here in total darkness and all alone?
How long he sat there he did not know, it seemed like an eternity. Occasionally the earth would moan and he could hear more rocks and dirt falling but other than the earth crying out, there was no sound. He had to use his brain to tell if his eyes were open or not, for he could still see nothing. The air seemed okay but it was still filled with dirt and dust so he used part of his shirt for a wrap around his mouth and nose. It helped a little with his breathing but the sense of loneliness overwhelmed him.
He had never known a feeling like this. It overcame him like a wave in the ocean, totally covering his being… hopeless. Yes, he thought to himself with discouraging a thought, hope less. Never before had he felt so alone, so helpless, so hopeless. Here he sat, in total darkness, all alone, in the deepest part of a cave, trapped by a cave in, not knowing if anyone even knew if he was alive or dead. No matter how hard he tried, these thoughts kept returning to his hopeless situation.
Suddenly the earth shudder again, rocks began to shake and the man covered his head with his hands and drew his legs close to his chest. From the sound he could tell that the movement of the rocks was across the room from where he was, which did bring him some comfort. The air was full of dust and debris, so he closed his eyes and waited a long while before he opened them again. When he finally opened his eyes he blinked his eyes for a few seconds. From across the room he would see a tiny beam of light shining from beneath the ruble. He blinked his eyes a couple of time again to be sure that it was not his imagination or his mind playing tricks on him but the could see the dust swirling round the room as it settled.
He was amazed at how much the little beam of light brightened up the room. He could now see the path across the floor to where the beam of light was shining through the ruble. In just a few seconds he could make out the walls of the room where he was trapped, he could see the mounds of rocks lying across the pathway that would lead him out of the cave. He shook his head wondering why he was not crawling towards the light and then he was quickly crawling across the floor towards the source of the light. He reached the other side and began to carefully move the rocks out of the way to get to the light.
His heart was saddened when he realized that he could not get to the light. He did discover that the source of the light was his helmet that he was wearing when the cave in occurred. He was positive that the helmet had saved his life considering how sore his head was. He moved as much debris as he could so that more of the light could fill the room. When he finished he crawled back across the room to what appeared to be the most solid and safest place to be. As he sat there he considered how much more encouraged he was because of a little beam of light shining brightly through all the debris. One little beam of light had given him hope. One little beam of light had allowed him to see his surrounds, to realize that the room was large and that there should be plenty of air to breath. He found his ears listening more attentively to the sounds of those that would soon be coming to rescue him. His fear was gone; he was no longer shaking as if he were freezing to death. He had hope all because of a little light shining through the darkness.
We are the light of the World. In the midst of all the darkness around us, let me challenge you to the that light that lights the way to the Savior.
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