Tunnels or Garage Doors??

People like to talk about hard things as a "tunnel" and the "light at the end of the tunnel". We like to point out how long and hard the journey is, but there is hope because there's light at the end of the tunnel! 

Do you know how utterly depressing that analogy can be for someone in the "tunnel"? For some of us, it feels like being told that the next year's of our life are going to consist of slogging through a long dark tunnel, (because for some reason it's never talked about as a short tunnel) desperately stretching for the light at the end of it, which we sometimes can't even see. So, I switched the analogy.

 I was sitting in the darkness with a dear soul one night, talking about letting light into dark places and the whole "tunnel" analogy was really annoying us both. So I tried this one instead... maybe it will make sense to you, maybe it won't.

I think, when we are sitting a dark place mentally, emotionally, or spiritually, it's more like a windowless garage. It's dark and lonely and we sit there, feeling like there is no escape, no light to be found, no hope. But sometimes there's a little knock on our garage door... someone checking in on us. Someone asking how we are doing or what's going on in our life. Every time we choose to actually tell them how we feel, what's going on, what's suffocating us... it opens up the garage door a little bit. Little pricks of light start trickling under the door. As we open up the darkness inside of us to the safe people around us who care for us, the door keeps rising. Every time we let someone see the dark and vulnerable places, more light comes in. We can see feet on the other side of the door. Maybe the owner of the feet even bends down and peek under the door to encourage us. We feel a little less alone. Our dark prison has hope now. Instead of a long slog through a tunnel, the sunshine is coming to us as we open the door to the love and grace available, even in the darkness.After a bit, the door stands wide open, the light is streaming in, what was once our prison is now bright and cheerful. We can walk free in the sunshine.

Is it a perfect analogy?? No. But maybe, just maybe, you'll be encouraged to knock on some garage doors... to ask someone how they are really doing instead moving along with our own busy lives. "Oh, I'm doing good" sometimes needs some follow up questions...("nice! What was good this week?" )

Or maybe you're the one in the dark garage... scrolling aimlessly on your phone, lost in a whirlpool of thoughts, drowning out noise with more noise, or frantically keeping yourself busy in your gloomy dungeon so you don't need to talk to anyone. If that's you, this is your little nudge to give a smidgen of honesty next time someone you feel safe with asks how you're doing.

Let's get the garage doors inching upward!