I reluctantly pushed the spindly hands of the grandfather clock back one hour. Like so many folks, I am not keen about descending into the dark part of the year. It is like traveling into an unknown forest and hoping we do not lose our way.  

As the days grow shorter, the trees start shedding their colorful garb, revealing stark and bony limbs. Owls make spooky sounds at night and big crows swoop through the trees by day. Most children are afraid of the dark because they’ve heard fairy tales about monsters inhabiting the gloom. As a child, I would not let my hands drop off the mattress for fear that something large and creepy, residing beneath the bed, would grab me.  

Spiritual darkness can strike at any time of year and be a huge threat to faith. We might be plunged into a devastating grief from a loved one’s death. We might be thrust into a terrifying tunnel when our health fails. Or have our hearts shattered when someone we love betrays us. How can we find our way through this frightening forest?  

In “Arise from Darkness,” Father Benedict Groeschel suggests that prayer provides a roadmap through spiritual darkness. “Not prayer that is going to help you tell God what to do,” he warns. After all, God already knows what to do. Instead, he recommends “Prayer that will reassure you that you are in the hands of God.”  

A young man who was a prisoner of Hamas spent months in the darkness of the tunnels. No daylight, no candles, no lanterns. This could have been a recipe for despair, but this man went into the tunnel as an atheist and emerged a believer.  

Maybe it was because he was pushed to the very limit of human experience, having lost his freedom and being separated from his family. Stripped of his human connections, he sought supernatural strength and found it.  

He discovered that even in the thickest darkness there were glimmers of God’s light. As he said in an interview, he started praying, and every time he prayed, something good would happen, no matter how small. One time the prisoners were given a cup of tea, and this provided a spark of joy for men who had not sipped a hot drink for months.  

The young father refused to surrender to the bleakness of his thoughts, which at times tortured him with fears about his family. He knew these thoughts would intensify his suffering, so he learned to push them aside. Love for his little boy got him through the worst days. You see, he was determined to remain hopeful and stay alive, so he would see his boy again.  

Not surprisingly, love for others can offer a cure for the spiritual gloom that sometimes threatens us. Father Groeschel suggests a simple and powerful remedy for those struggling with sorrow and disappointment: “Get out of yourself and help someone else.” He says the works of mercy are like doses of medication for the wounded heart.  

In the end, the young father was released from the tunnels and reunited with his little boy, who cried out “Daddy!” and leapt into his arms for a radiant embrace. Like this father, let’s always look for glimmers of light in the darkness. And let’s always remember that we are held in the loving embrace of God.