There’s so much darkness and chaos right now. The environment is cloaked with it. I can see it in my newsfeed. I feel it on the roadways.
In moments like this, I have to reach deep, to what I know to be true.
Here it is:
I know that light comes out of the darkness if we wait long enough.
In the very beginning of the Hebrew bible, we read that chaos existed first, and then darkness and out of that – came light. (Genesis 1:1) I am quite certain that other tradition’s creation stories see a similar pattern.
It is a spiritual truth: all that is born emerges from the darkness. Human babies are born from the womb. Seeds arise out of the earth that holds them.
Chaos and darkness can be scary but they can also be the birthplace of creativity.
David Whyte writes in his poem Sweet Darkness: “The dark will be your womb tonight…Sometimes it takes darkness and the sweet confinement of your aloneness to learn – anything or anyone that does not bring you alive is too small for you.”
It gives me hope to believe that out of this darkness right now a new order may be birthed:
More justice, greater equality, deeper respect for human beings.
Perhaps more kindness and compassion.
Please, let’s not take each other down in the meantime.
Tonight is Shabbat, a day of rest. What might you do to bring some peace and creativity to your world?
Blessings
Rabbi Jill
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Excellent! I’m preparing an evening of reflection for the end of November dealing with darkness and light. It is right before Advent. One of the insights I’ve reflected upon and which
I will share is that some things can ONLY be seen/encountered in the dark. Just as the most profound wisdom is only found in silence … May the blessings of great PEACE be with you!