As we, at the bottom of the world move, day-by-day, towards the end of autumn and the beginning of winter, our nights get darker. Easter & resurrection in the Northern Hemisphere are celebrated in spring and the days are getting lighter, more hopeful, and more an invitation to turn outwards. Easter for us though, is the beginning of shorter daylight hours and increasing darkness.
And so my reflections, for a number of reasons, over the last couple of weeks have been centered on the need for and the importance of darkness and the necessity of the “tomb” before the resurrection, which if seasonally aligned to spring is some months off for us.
“…Darkness is a natural part of life but I have fought this reality for years. Darkness always seemed like a powerful intruder into my light-filled life. I had this notion that if I thought if did the right things then my life would always be full of light. I wouldn’t have anguishing, dark times. Consequently, when the dark moments did come, I felt that something had gone terribly wrong with me. I presumed that I had failed in some significant way because I had not figured out how to keep the darkness out of my life. It has taken me a long time to recognize that darkness is an essential element for personal growth. No matter how many “right things” I do, darkness will still come unannounced and uninvited because it is an essential part of life. Without darkness I cannot become the person I am meant to be…
… The descent into the unknown regions of ourselves is a vital part of spiritual and psychological growth… We need light for our journey but we also need darkness…this [is] the paradoxical process of transformation…
…Darkness comes in many forms and is not an easy visitor …[it includes] the darkness of the human heart…
…Darkness can … break into our inner world when we experience the natural patterns of adult growth such as midlife, retirement, and other aging processes. At these times, darkness challenges us to peer into our Shadow and accept parts of our selves, which we have not known, have refused to acknowledge, or have skillfully hidden from ourselves…
…In spite of all the pain and agony that darkness brings, these periods of sparse light in our lives can also be gifts for growth. We can never live for very long without some dark moments pushing their way into our days. This life’s way of inviting us to grow. Whether or not the darkness is a gift for us depends, of course, upon our attitude toward it and how we respond.
We need the darkness for our spiritual and psychological health but this is a painful truth to accept…”
- Joyce Rupp.
* The extended quote is continued tomorrow.
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