into the darkness

The journey of Moses into God's presence is an apt symbol for the odd progress in our spiritual life; the progress takes us through the darkness father than from the darkness into the light of God. As we mature in faith, we move away from pride in ourselves and our own achievments to a gradual awareness of our spiritual failure and Christ's work in us as we entrust ourselves to Him. We move away from the conviction that we are self-sufficient to the repeated experience of spiritual bankruptcy. We move on from delusions of our spiritaul importance to a growing sense of our utter insignificance and the glory of God. We move on from delight in our own power to the painful recognition of our spiritual weakness....Christ fills our emptiness and justifies us by grace. (From Grace Upon Grace: spirituality for today by John Kleinig)