God has rescued us from the power of darkness
and transferred us into the Realm of the Beloved…
—Colossians 1.13
It’s not darkness we’re saved from—
darkness being the place of Creation,
the thick, full mystery—
but our envy of dullness,
visionless, without revealing,
negation’s temptation, a blank,
smoke from no fire that curls and obscures,
dusk of trust that passes for thought,
a closing of eyes.
In the dark alley we fear not the dark
but what may lurk there,
its unclarity of intent.
In the valley of the shadow of death
we fear not the shadow, but the death,
not the pall but the limit beneath it.
But we are brought into your realm of light,
where darkness is not lack
but a different kind of shining.
Everything reveals. Even the shadows teach.
In the night we don’t suddenly see,
but feel your warmth beside us.
In everything a dawn, redolent with possibility,
unsettled, unfolding,
and we, within it, radiating.
__________________
Steve Garnaas-Holmes
Unfolding Light
www.unfoldinglight.net
July 11, 2019