Hearts of Darkness - Redeemed

What do Blind Bartimaeus and Heart of Darkness have in common?

This past Sunday, the sermon was on Mark 10:46-52, the passage containing the healing of Bartimaeus. For the first point, the pastor used a comparison with Alcoholics Anonymous to demonstrate that in order to be freed from something that has its hold on you, you must first truly recognize your condition for what it is. As he continued, for some reason I immediately thought of the Joseph Conrad novel Heart of Darkness, which I read in literature class in high school. In that class, we determined that Conrad's view of salvation is to look the darkness in the face and recognize it and proclaim it as evil. What a similarity!

Sadly, however, Conrad stops there. But fortunately, Bartimaeus' (and the Gospel's) story doesn't end there!

Bartimaeus recognized his helplessness. But he responded by turning to the one Person able to help him - Jesus! Trusting in faith that Jesus could and would do what he asked, he received his sight.

I don't know about you, but I am so glad that we don't have to stop where Heart of Darkness does. We have a Savior who we can run to, and who can and will free us from bondage to the darkness within each of our hearts.

~Mac