Darkness and Light

My favorite times of day are dawn and dusk, and now I really know why, in my core. In either case, darkness and light take time to come and go: the slow coming of darkness at dusk allows us color and shadow, a respite from the brightness of day, from its heat. The eking, little by little, of dawn’s rosy, sometimes pale yellow light, unfolding like a lotus, revealing the firmament. The passage of time, sure and slow and easy, familiar to us still in spite of all humankind has wrought, brings us these passages. Our Creator has made it so.

In some ways this natural phenomenon tells us of our deepest fears and longings, of our evil and good, which are of a piece, whether we like to think of it that way or not. Coming out of this milestone 5 day silent retreat I have reacquainted myself with this truth. In this pandemic this has become a reality—again, whether or not we see it for each ourselves. I see it, clear as day, now.

I see it in those I know who fight the good fight, who enter into the ring of daily battle and bring goodness into the world, who care about more than themselves. In those whose governance in the true sense has in mind the well-being of many and not the selfish, singular path of the few. In those who place their voice on the line for those who are voiceless and vulnerable, without resource and without foothold. In those who suffer quietly each day but raise their hope nonetheless for reasons we may not understand; I stand with those people.

Darkness comes to us all, and it is simply a reflection on the nature of light; in both we still have the God who holds us. Whether you believe or not there is a God who loves you to your core. Touch the ground of your holiness, and consider how St Francis presented, in his famed Canticle, his study of light and dark.

All praise be yours, my Lord, through all that you have made,
And first my lord Brother Sun,
Who brings the day; and light you give to us through him.
How beautiful is he, how radiant in all his splendor!
Of you, Most High, he bears the likeness.

All praise be yours, my Lord, through Sister Moon and Stars;
In the heavens you have made them, bright
And precious and fair.

I pray for you that you become the lotus, unfolding when the time is right. That darkness and light both form you and bring you not only to peace, but into action in this world for the greater good.