CAVE DWELLERS II

Another kind of cave is one that has multiple entries. We get in easily enough but we can’t remember how to get out. Temptation is very much like this, there are all kinds of ways to get into it and then the ways of escape seem closed and difficult to exit. But then there is grace after the struggle of wandering and looking. There is an escape hole and we squeeze through it and flee into the light and freedom by the ropes of mercy and grace.

There are caves that are dusty and drippy. This is when the dust rolls up on us at every turn. The cave seems endless. It is dry and the very taste of the cave is in our mouth, our eyes and covering our clothing. We feel gritty and dirty. Then we come to a dripping sound and know there is water. But it is not enough water and it only makes mud and goop and we can hardly move our feet and hands. The mind closes down from reason and enters into only the desperate sticky and stuck existence. We need rock under our feet to get out and then know we must stay out.

Some caves have writing and pictures on the walls. We look at them and try to figure out who did these markings. How long ago and what kind of people recorded their cave experience? The mystery is only partially unraveled and we begin to stare and try to drift backwards into another culture and another time. It is not unlike a good novel that has the ability to transport us into another time and place. We finally realize in the cave drawings that an earlier generation has depicted their meditations on the wall of the cave, hoping others will understand the cave experience.

“I am the light of the world. If you follow me, you won’t have to walk in darkness, because you will have the light that leads to life.” Jesus