Day 43 Part 3 - Light at the end of the tunnel

(continued from Part Two)

Canals are expensive to build. The most economical way to construct them is to keep them flat and straight. But neither is possible for long in the West Midlands. At Cookley, the sandstone had been blasted into cuttings for the canal, which twisted in tight turns. I was thrilled to share the Cookley Tunnel with the narrowboat, "Jamie" who chugged her fumes and sound around the bricks inches above us.

Up past Caunsall and Whittington and finally into Kinver, where I left the canal. I finished the day with an uphill walk to the very comfortable Pine Lodge B&B, where Anita welcomed me. It was almost six o'clock when I arrived and the day's fourteen miles brought my total to 444.

My walking verse was John 12.35, "Jesus said, The light is with you for a little longer, so that the darkness may not overtake you. If you walk in the darkness you do not know where you are going."

I saw fresh significance in Jesus as the Light of the World. It's an image that's always felt static to me. But now I realise that it's light to walk by, that a life illuminated by faith in Jesus is not lived in a cosy glow. It's about having light to move confidently forward, not fumbling in the dark.

I remembered some lines from the hymn, 'O Jesus I have promised':

"O let me see thy footmarks
And in them plant mine own.
My hope to follow duly
Is in thy strength alone."