When thinking of darkness we often think of fearful, negative, or even evil things. Our society often equates dark with bad and light with good, most notably in anti-Black racism that has been a part of our culture for hundreds of years. Some of these perceptions of darkness as scary are completely understandable, as children how many of us were afraid of the dark? I know I was. Some adults still get scared when the sun sets and the lights go out.
This time of year often brings with it more dark and light imagery, whether in the candles of an Advent wreath, the lights on a Christmas tree, or the illumination of a Hanukkah menorah. The cheer and warmth that lights and flames bring on the cold dark winter nights are worth tending as they often guide us through some hard days and nights. The problem though is that to relegate the darkness to always being bad or negative removes from it the pregnant possibility it so often nurtures.
In scripture we see multiple instances, spoken or unspoken, where blessing, covenant, and life are given. In Genesis Jacob wrestled with a figure, who we learn was in fact God, all night and in the darkness right before dawn Jacob demands a blessing from God and it is given.
Many times throughout the Hebrew scriptures we see God appear shrouded in cloud. We see this when God comes to the Israelites on Mount Sinai and then again when God fills the newly built temple in 1st Kings.
And when the priests came out of the holy place, a cloud filled the house of the Lord, so that the priests could not stand to minister because of the cloud, for the glory of the Lord filled the house of the Lord.
Then Solomon said,
“The Lord has said that he would dwell in thick darkness. -1 Kings 8:10-12
In these instances God appears and is said to live in darkness, the clouds in which God comes are so dense that light does not penetrate them, yet it is from that darkness that God makes and keeps covenant with God’s people.
God resides in darkness in a different and uniquely human way when God incarnates in Mary’s womb. In the gentle darkness of Mary’s belly God grows and develops in the person of Jesus. Once again Jesus takes hold of life in the darkness when early on Easter morning he rises from death in the dark of the garden tomb, soon to be opened and emptied. It is in the dark that life is given, both for Jesus but also for us. Just as Jesus grew and gained life in Mary’s womb, so each of us came to life in the wombs of our mothers. Just as Jesus rose from death in the dark of a tomb, so too will we one day rise to new life.
These and other scripture passages show us the possibility of the darkness to nurture, grow, and aid us in life. Darkness has so much to offer, it need not be our constant enemy, for to make it so is to write it off as scary, less than, and downright evil.
The dark can be a place where life and creativity are nurtured. The dark can be a place of promise and blessing. The dark can be a place of beauty and rest. So as the days get shorter and the dark of night lengthens, may you learn not to fear the darkness, but instead to embrace it as teacher, shelter, and place of possibility.
Blessings,
Pastor Brian
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