Coming Out Of The Dark
Born in 1899, Ernest would serve in World War I as an ambulance driver. Almost killed by a mortar and watching his fellow soldiers die left him changed for life.
Oddly, his life would be marked by close calls with death, including two plane crashes that left him severely injured.
Eventually Ernest moved to Paris to become a better writer, focusing on his craft and upon feeding his every whim. He indulged in pleasure with vigor, and in the process concluded that faith in God was a waste of time.
While his wild living ruined his health, he would also become a tortured artist, mainly fighting what would prove to be a losing battle with depression. As he began to age, he lamented the loss of his health and of his friends, and bemoaned his lonely estate, failing to find fulfillment in his numerous marital affairs.
To Ernest life had simply become chaotic. It was from the final frontier that he was determined to take back control. With precision, he began to plot his own death. His opportunity came one early morning.
Dressed in a robe Ernest locked himself in a room with a shotgun and ended his own life, a final effort to be captain of his own fate, to take control of something.
Though a legendary writer, Ernest Hemingway is perhaps most often remembered for his untimely death. The tortured artist was truly a tortured soul. What is so puzzling to many people is how a man who seemed to have it all could have felt so empty inside.
It was Augustine who said, “Our hearts are restless until they find rest in Thee.”
Solomon simply stated, “God has set eternity in the hearts of men” (Ecclesiastes 3:11).
The truth is there is a void in our life that can be filled by only that which is eternal, which doesn’t change with time. Hemingway sought every temporal pleasure the world could offer, but refused the one source of true life.
On the other hand, King David cried, “Lead me to the rock that is higher than I” (Psalm 61:2). The wise ruler knew his real need lay beyond his own ability to meet. The same is true for you and me.
As Jesus surveyed the world, he concluded that there was a darkness that had blinded the hearts of men. Then with all the authority of heaven and earth, he declared the time of the darkness was over, and in him the light had arrived, a light that would overcome the dark.
He promised, “I have come that they may have life, and have it to the full” (John 10:10).
His offer extends to all who simply believe his message, are ready to leave the darkness behind, and take him by the hand and walk into the light of life.