This morning on the way to the study, I drove through fog. That is somewhat of an understatement. Had I a net, I might have caught a few fish swimming across the highway. The fog was thick when I pulled out of the subdivision onto the highway, I could not see very far. The first two traffic lights I came too were barely visible. I was not looking forward to crossing Hugh Thomas Bridge over the Black Warrior River.

Do you ever have days like this? Not just literal fog, but spiritual fog? Do you have days when life, the world, even your own sin blind you to what is around you? I know you do, everyone does. When Nathaniel Hawthorne writes about The Minister’s Black Veil I think in some way the veil is more than a symbol for man’s struggle with sin or Mr. Hooper’s specific struggle with sin. I think the veil also reveals the emotional and spiritual struggle we face as we deal with sin around us including but not limited to our own sin.

Sin creeps in quietly, unannounced like a fog on little cat’s feet (thank you, Carl Sandburg, for that image). We find ourselves surrounded and unable to see where we are going nor can we see how we arrived at this point.

Something else happened this morning. I turned toward the east – toward the rising sun and saw the warmth and light of the sun burning through the fog and clearing the road ahead of me. I pulled over and took pictures of the scene. By the time I reached my study, the skies were almost clear. Now as I look out my window, just over an hour later, the fog lifted, the sun is out and the skies are clear. Sandburg’s  words picture the fog as it haunches over the city and harbor “and then moves on.”

The power of the sun. The power of light. The power to make a day that starts out grey turn to cheery and bright.

The power of The Son. The power of The Light. Jesus, the Christ, the Son of God said of himself, “I am the light of the world. Whoever follows me will not walk in darkness, but will have the light of life.” (John 8:12).

Thank you, Father, for sending the Light. Thank You for illuminating the Way out of sin and the Way we should go. Thank You for lifting the fog and giving us hope. Thank You for lifting the veil by Your Grace and providing for our salvation in Christ (cf. Titus 3:4-7).

-Scott