Goethe’s final words “More light” Ever since we crawled out of that
primordial slime, that’s been our unifying cry, “More light”, sunlight, torchlight candlelight, neon,
incandescent. Light to banish the
darkness from our caves, to illuminate our roads, the insides of our
refridgerators. Big floods for the
games at Soldier’s Field, little flashlights for those books we read under the
covers when we are supposed to be asleep.
Light is a metaphor, “Thy word is a lamp under my feet” “Rage, rage against the dying of the
light”, “Lead kindly light, amid the encircling doom, lead me on”, “The night is dark and I am far from
home, lead thou me on”, “Arise,
shine, for thy light has comed”.
Light is knowledge, light is life, light is light.
Some of you might remember
this passage from an old TV show called Northern Exposure. This was the episode where
Chris-in-the-morning, the town seeker, artist, radio DJ, says these words to
introduce his piece of art, one that consisted of just about every light appliance and light bulb from the town, all strung together and lit in the town square.
As we come down the month
of Novemeber, we experience the shift from daylight savings time, we notice the early darkness in the
evening, and we begin to feel the darkness of winter sneaking into our
consciousness. Although I have
come to really love this time, a way of being BEAR and lumbering into my
various caves of experience, a way of choosing to be more still, more
introspective and contemplative.
Some find this darkening time hard to manage. The question would be, do you have the Seasonal
Affective Disorder, or is it a discomfort with the life at our interior…the “darker”
places within all of us?
If we imagine what winter
might be asking of us, would we find that we are invited to sit with those less
comfortable places within…if just for moment or two? To use the quilting layers of dark, perhaps as comfort to
us, to make a safe place to explore, again, just a little.
I believe that our tenure
here on the planet is an opportunity.
An chance to do many things, strengthen our bodies, develop our minds,
expand our perspectives, learn to love deeply, and yes, make some peace with
our inner demons. So in that
“light”, I request the honor of
your presence in the soft night, again, for just a minute each day, to be
still, to be quiet, to tolerate our jagged edged parts and surround them with
our consciousness, and bring the gifts of that moment back into our personal
daylight. A call. A small Hero’s Journey, (Joseph
Campbell).
I will leave you with one
of my favorite quotes from Carl Jung: “One
does not become enlightened by imagining figures of light, but by making the
darkness conscious”.
Go softly .
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