Why am I called JoeintheDark

It started as a nickname in high school.  I was called joeinthedark by a friend on the cross country team and I liked it.  Obviously it is a play on words, sounds like glow-in-the-dark.  I have used it as my avatar ever sense.  The reason I like it so much is because I have one or two options.

One: I can go about my life and only think about myself and not worry about anyone else or care about anyone else.  And therefore remain in the dark.

OR

Two: I can glow-in-the-dark!  In Matthew 5: 14-16 it says:

14 Ye are the alight of the world. A city that is set on an hill cannot be hid.

 15 Neither do men light a candle, and put it under a bushel, but on a candlestick; and it giveth light unto all that are in the house.

 16 Let your alight so shine before men, that they may see your good works, and glorify your Father which is in heaven.

When the submarine is submerged below periscope depth, it operates deeper than surface ships so the chance of collision is greatly minimized.  And when the submarine is surfaced the submarine is a lot safer than at PD because now you have a lot more sensors to see and track other vessels and they also can see you and drive around you as required by the rules of the road.  But at PD they cannot see you so they can potentially drive right at you having no indication that you are there.  Like I mentioned above, it is one of the most potentially dangerous evolutions that a submarine does.   While at PD the only way you can see other vessels is with a periscope.  The safety of the entire ship and the 130 people on board are in the hands or in this case, the eye, of the one person on the scope.   At night seeing out of the periscope can be pretty hard because the only thing you can see are

whatever lights merchant ships might be displaying and the moon and starts.  The night sky can be so beautiful in the middle of the ocean.  There were many times that we would be thousands of miles from the closest body on land and hundreds of miles from the closest ship and the night sky would be just lit up with stars and the moon.  It was so beautiful especially since there was no light pollution from man-made light.

When a submarine is out at sea, it goes up to periscope depth often: anywhere from daily to multiple times a day depending on ships operations. When you are at periscope depth the submarine remains just below the water line with just one or more masts raised for communication and navigation purposes.  Going to and being at periscope depth is one of the most dangerous evolutions that a submarine does because it is now in stratum with surface ship. 

I remember other nights that were not so nice.  There were several nights operating in the middle of nowhere in the Northern Pacific having 100% cloud cover making it impossible to see.  It is like turning out a flashlight inside a cave, complete and total darkness.  The darkness seems impenetrable.  Most of these dark nights correspond with horrible weather and you cannot tell if the periscope is above or below the waterline especially because these storms will drum up huge waves of 30 to 60 ft high—guaranteeing that the periscope is underwater a good majority of the time.  This can be very scary because you might not see a merchant or any ship coming at you until it is almost on top of you.  Nights like this you go up to periscope depth for the shortest amount of time possible and then go deep into deeper, calmer water.

What I am getting to with all of this is that operating in the dark is scary, but operating with the light shining can be the most beautiful and wonderful experience.  As JoeintheDark, I have the choice to let the light of Christ shine through me to make the world a better place.  Or I can hide the light until the light goes out and keep the world a dark and dreary place.  I know what decision I am going to make…