For John, there are only two ways to live. There is a life of darkness and there is a life of light. Darkness has to do with fear and uncertainty; it is a realm of threats and secrets. There can be no lasting joy there. People whose spiritual lives are darkened tend to hang on to three ideas that help them cope. They presume that God is their friend regardless of what they do. They affirm that they are essentially good people. They insist that they have done nothing wrong. But in the end they will find that they were just whistling in the dark.