This Is The Dark Time, My Love
“Yet they say, ‘ My Lord has deserted us; he has forgotten us.’ ‘Never! Can a mother forget her little child and not have love for her own son? Yet even if that should be, I will not forget you. See, I have tattooed your name upon my palm...” – Isaiah 49:14-16a
In my high school literature class, I was required to learn and analyse a series of poems, one of which was Martin Carter’s “This Is The Dark Time My love”. (It’s an interesting read.)Mr. Carter, a Guyanese man, tells of the invasion of British troops of what was once British Guiana in a time of political unrest. In Carter’s poem, the speaker, in conversation with his lover, paints a dismal picture of the invasion, labelling it as a time of ‘awful sorrow’, ‘tears’, and ‘anxious and strained faces’. He describes a ‘carnival of misery.’ The piece ends on a note of hopelessness.
This poem has been on my mind a lot lately. Dark times of the soul do come; invasions of grief announcing themselves suddenly and with unexpected ferocity, or with a creeping slowness that threatens our hope. We all have our dark ‘valley’ experiences. Isaiah describes such a time for Israel, a time of enslavement and desolation. So deep were God’s people in their grief that they believed He had abandoned them; forgotten them. No doubt that Christians today, under the weight of their grief often question whether God has left them to languish forever.
He has not. Throughout Isaiah, God leaves messages of comfort; promises of His love, His care, His awareness of his people and their pain. “Comfort, oh, comfort my people, says your God. Speak tenderly to Jerusalem and tell her that her sad days are gone...” – Isaiah 40 : 1-2a; “I, Israel’s God, will not ever forsake them.” – Isaiah 41: 17b ; “The Lord who made you, who will help you, says, O servant of mine, don’t be afraid.. For I will give you water for your thirst and for your parched fields. And I will pour out my Spirit and blessings on your children.” – Isaiah 44: 2 – 3; “I am saying to the prisoners of darkness, ‘Come out! I am giving you your freedom!’” – Isaiah 49 : 9b.
The book of Isaiah is littered; crowded, with Gods repeated promises to uplift, to comfort, and to love. No darkness can thrive in His presence. Perhaps most comforting of all is God’s assurance that He forgets no one, overlooks nothing. “..I will not forget you. I have tattooed your name upon my palm...” These are the promises we turn to when despair threatens to overwhelm. We are loved, we are remembered, and we will be comforted by the God who made us.
To you who feel buried under the weight of life’s pains, God says simply this:
“Come out! I am giving you your freedom!”
For the record, after the invasion, and years of British reign, Guyana became a free country. Dark time no more.
Sheldon Robinson
- Guest Writer
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