We often look at our lives as something that should only be moments of light without the darkness and shadow of suffering, disappointment, and frustration. We see the shadows and we regret because we do not see that there is no light without shadow. Beauty binds both of them - the inter woven presence and the absence of primordial light from the irruption of the universe.
Perhaps, the most revealing moments, those moments when lights break through even as the sun sets, are moments when something else breaks through.
It is the end of the day as I look at my neighbor’s yard and Light House field beyond. The end and promise of a new day.
There are those moments when the actual beauty seems painted, ethereal, and removed. Just as the eyes are the windows of the soul, the light is soothing, cool, and shadowed as it fades. The day is complete and well lived. The light doesn’t overcome the darkness but yields to it and finds a new beginning.
Final bursts of light and color from a short winter’s day along the creek. Seeing the beauty and wonder of our lives often happens as the light recedes and we rest waiting for the pinpoint stars of night and the Milky Way’s bright river of light.
Even the midday sun has its shadows and textures. The rock stacks are precarious sentinels that may last a day or so as they are lost to the sun, wind, and tide. The light filtered by fog creates harsh surfaces tempered by their shadows.
The beauty of our lives cannot exist without the shadow defined by the light. It is contoured, folded, and defined by being blocked, filtered, and reflected. Otherwise it is a blinding bulb with no shape, color, or beauty.
Luz y sombra - Light and shadow
A presence made by absence
I so appreciate this reflection, Randy! So much of our suffering comes from our inability to hold this tension and tolerate the light and the dark as they exist together in our lives. It also strikes me that when we can exist in this tension, held secure by the love of God, it actually gives us greater clarity about ways in which we can pursue change and justice in the world.
"The light doesn’t overcome the darkness but yields to it and finds a new beginning." Randy, I read your essay and I wonder how it applies to the real world. If you are a Ukrainian - do you just let the dark side of aggression run over you and your family?
I just read an interesting article on "mixed emotions. We are usually never completely happy/sad etc. Our emotions are mixed except - I suppose- for those who are high on drugs.
To view both lightness and darkness as a mixed emotion is fine but what do you do with that insight? A battered spouse might see the light when she is not being battered. I realize that your message is one of hope but it is not practical enough for the real world. Do you always turn the other cheek? Bob