Light in the Darkness

It was late at night as we rushed through the dark tunnel, not knowing what lurked around the next bend. Yet an equal uncertainty of what lay behind us drove us forward. We sought a way out of the maze of black corridors, but had been wandering around for some time. At last, we perceived noise up ahead, and even spotted a little light.

We moved more slowly, quietly. Then abruptly we were in a dim room. Before us stood a platoon of enemy soldiers. Along the right side of the cave were thirty male soldiers with AK-47s leveled at us. Disconcerting, yet normal. But to our left, a dozen armed uniformed women also sighted us in. Not so normal. This was Russia in 1984.

We entered the small chamber all at once, and were immediately face to face, gun to gun, with our enemies. The Russians outnumbered us, but they knew we numbered enough to make any mishap bloody for everyone. We could feel their feelings, and they could feel ours. No soul present wanted a violent engagement right there, right then. But it felt unavoidable.

The world seemed to stop—there was no sound, no movement, no distraction. The strangest sight was the women soldiers who faced us, their expressions full of hatred and fear. They stared at us as hard as we stared at them. Their eyes seemed colder than the eyes of their male comrades.

All this passed in what seemed like an hour, but was only a few seconds. We would have no chance if a battle began. But we could not just succumb to being prisoners, either. Darkness overwhelmed every soul. Suddenly, I felt a strange tug at my deepest will and emotion. I have no idea what I was thinking, nor why I acted on the impulse. Yet by God’s grace, I did act.

I slowly lowered my rifle. “You ladies are beautiful!” Their eyes were like ice. I repeated, louder, “You are all very beautiful…God must have spent extra time creating you!” I glanced around as a few seemed to twitch. Did they understand? “For the love of God, enough blood has been spilled in this war! Do any of you speak English?” After a long silence, a woman gazed straight into my eyes and quietly said, “I am British; I speak English.” Her eyes softened briefly, and I almost sensed in her a yearning for this horror to cease.

My heart was pounding. Why on earth was a Briton fighting for the Russians? But I felt eternally grateful to this woman, and to God. I quickly responded to her, “Will you please tell these other women what I have said?” She stalled as her pride fought her conscience. My pleading eyes never left hers. Finally, she broke our stare and looked about. She spoke in a low tone to her companions. I could tell she was repeating my message to them…twice. Upon hearing, there was a moment of temperance in the hands holding the guns and in the eyes waiting to kill. A short pause ensued.

To this point, I had focused fully on our enemies. I glanced at my own peers and commander. They were afraid, and could not believe what I was doing. Yet they clung to hope amidst hopelessness.

Suddenly, they all laughed! “There is no God! There is no God!” they cried aloud, mockingly. This English phrase had been drilled into them, and their taunts were overwhelming. They raised their guns once more.

In a final attempt to prevent slaughter, I begged the woman from Britain to address her allies once more: “Fine. You’ve been told there is no God! But if God does exist, just if, then He neither wants us to hurt you and destroy your outward beauty, nor does He want you to hurt us and destroy your inward beauty! Please, take this chance to establish peace and preserve life for just one more day!”

My translator blinked. Our fates hung on her decision of whether, and what, to speak. Everybody watched her. Then she gave me a slight nod of her head. She turned to her friends and translated verbatim. At first, no one moved. Then two women on the end stepped back, dropped their eyes, and lowered their firearms. Others followed suit, and a tidal wave of relief began overwhelming us all. It seemed the room was spawning its own redeeming light.

Only two did not budge: the British woman and the Russian commander. He kept watching her, then me, his gun ready. In time, he quietly addressed her. She looked placid as she listened, then she turned and relayed his message to me.

“My major admires your courage. He believes in what just happened: that life and peace are more important than war and captives. He adds that you are a better man than he. But he says Moscow will never tolerate him releasing enemy troops. For the first time, he is placing his convictions over his government. Consequently, he must flee. His last words are that maybe one day, when all this is over, he will think more on the God of whom you spoke tonight.”

I could only say “Thank you, Sir,” before he conferred hastily with three of his subordinates, then disappeared down a side tunnel. Meanwhile, I thanked the British woman for her help in our crisis. She thanked me for reminding her that God and souls supersede victory and power. I asked about her future, and she said she hoped to return to her homeland soon.

We all put down our guns, and shared our remaining rations—enemies extending peace. We lit a fire after midnight, and went above ground for the sunrise—enemies sharing memories. Then we returned to our own camps. The war was still going on…

But for us it would be different. Our enemies had hearts, minds, and souls. Pointless killing would cease, occasions for mercy would be sought. Our duties remained, as we had to stop evil foes. Yet we no longer mechanically viewed all our opponents as such. We knew there were exceptions.

Years later, I somehow got a letter from the Russian major. He was in prison for his conduct that night, and soon would be executed. But he bade me to take heart, for he had found God, and knew that fighting against evil through faith in Him is the most important war in the world.

For myself, this truth has become more pronounced since that bloodless night. God’s grace saves us from our own destruction—whoever calls upon His Son Jesus Christ. All the world’s darkness will be engulfed someday, as it was in that tunnel, by the eternal, glorious light of Almighty God!

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(Originally published by Yahoo! Voices.)