Hidden Light, Shining Darkness

… the darkness and the light are both alike to thee… Psalm 139:12

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The last two articles posted here at Whisperia have been focused on serious somber topics. (Here, I’m referring to, “A Familiar Stranger,” 9.30.2024 and “To the Dark Tower,” 9.23.2024.) I didn’t post these because I’m depressed or in any way enamored with melancholy topics. I posted them simply because they were the articles I was prompted to write during these past two weeks. They concern experiences I’ve had and what I learned before, during and after those experiences.

As an artist, I’ve always been intrigued by the interplay of light and shadow. This contrast is one of the ingredients that makes any kind of art possible. Certainly, our lives, too, are comprised of contrasts.

Several years ago, while my husband and I visited the state of Georgia, we went to the Wormsloe Historic Site, owned by the State of Georgia. It includes the ruins of a residence once occupied by the Jones family, as well as other buildings and gardens. But, when we visited, what captured my attention was the oak-lined avenue leading to the site. Many, many, very old towering oak trees border both sides of this road. With their outstretched branches, they appear to be reaching, longingly, toward each other above the road. Where they successfully embrace and intertwine, they form a leafy wooded canopy through which sunlight flickers. This light plays in patterns on the ground and on the surface of the road as the leaves flit and twirl, and the branches are swayed by soft breezes. The ceaseless dance of light and moving shadows makes the road look more like a river with undulating ripples of water. The contrast of light and shadow - both above in the foliage of the trees, and below in the soil and grass on the ground - is mesmerizing.

Below is a painting I did of this place.

Acrylic on canvas, K. M. Anderson

The light wouldn’t appear so brilliantly clear, if not for the shadows. The shadows wouldn’t appear as enigmatic and brooding, if not for the light. The scene would appear flat and uninteresting, if not for this interplay. In creating this painting, I meditated upon and studied the qualities of both light and darkness, sunlight and shadow. This process heightened my appreciation for each of them, artistically, psychologically and spiritually.

It engendered a realization within me that here, during this life, we must experience both light and dark, triumph and defeat, joy and sorrow, pleasure and pain, plenty and scarcity. All of these are outer or circumstantial conditions. Through all of them, whether seemingly positive or negative, we are the one unvarying element. Throughout the vagaries of our lives we, ourselves, are the presences that remain constant. “So, what of this?” some may ask. “Why is this important?”

This is of the utmost importance because we are eternal.

That great seeker and initiate we know today as Saint Paul said, “I know both how to be abased, and I know how to abound...” (1) He went on to say, “In any and all circumstances I have learned the secret of being content - whether well fed or hungry, whether in abundance or in need.” (2)

We may be tempted to dismiss Paul as a clueless lightweight who didn’t know what he was saying, because he wasn’t intimately acquainted with suffering, and had no idea how difficult life can be. Let’s take a short inventory of just a few of his circumstances. To start with, he wrote the words (above) to those at Philippi, while under house arrest. He went without food for prolonged periods; historically, we know of three occasions when he was beaten; he was stoned; he was flogged on five different occasions; during the course of his travels, he was shipwrecked three times; he was blind for three days after being thrown from a horse while in a strange city; and we know he experienced some sort of recurring malady or “thorn in the flesh.” Need we say more? Certainly, just a few of such events in our own lives would lead us to think ourselves more than credible in regard to suffering.

So, what was his “secret?” What is this “secret,” and why does it matter? What does it have to do with the truth that we are eternal?

All outward manifestations in our lives present us with catalyst. By this, I mean that the various situations and relationships in our lives present us with opportunities for us to change, to take some kind of action, or to learn.

However, we tend to perceive our circumstances or situations as positive or negative and, for most of us, positive circumstances don’t arrest our attention. This is because when we’re comfortable and happy we don’t tend to search. We don’t tend to ask questions. We simply enjoy and bask in our positive situation(s). Or, we don’t even notice our positive circumstances or blessings. We take them for granted. This doesn’t mean that there isn’t anything to learn from positive situations. It’s just that we don’t tend to look for meaning or to look at the bigger picture.

No, we tend to ask questions, and to search for meaning when things don’t seem to be going so well, when we feel discontented, or when we’re moving through unfamiliar territory. This is when we query about matters we’ve not previously bothered to inquire. This is when we search for meaning we haven’t previously taken the time to discover. This is when we get angry with a “God” to whom we haven’t previously given much thought. Notably, this is when we give away our power. Yes, we give away our power when we experience what we perceive as negative circumstances. How do we do this?

We do this because we’ve placed qualifications and limits on our own happiness, peace and joy. We all want to be happy, peaceful and joyful. But, we say to ourselves or others: I can be happy, peaceful and joyful as long as I’m not hungry; or as long as I have enough money; or as long as I like my job; or as long as my spouse loves me; or as long as I have an audience on Tik Tok; etc., etc., etc. With caveats such as these, we give away our power and control. Remember, as we’ve discussed in previous Whisperia articles, the only real control we have in this life is the control we exercise over our inner life or the kingdom within us. (See Whisperia article entitled, “Where Angels Tread,” 8.15.2023. (3) (See link below.)

Here is the secret: The truth is that we, like Saint Paul, can simply make an inner decision to be happy, peaceful and joyful, no matter what our circumstances. This is the “secret.” We can make an inner decision to take control of our viewpoint regarding our circumstances. Viktor Frankl taught about this concept brilliantly, and we’ve discussed some of his teachings here at Whisperia, especially in the article entitled, “Slumbering Thoughts,” 9.18.2023. (4) (See link below)

Our human life, during this incarnation, is but a tiny portion of our eternal spiritual path. When we keep this in mind, while taking responsibility for our responses to whatever may come during our earthly lives, we enable ourselves to live lives of inner happiness, peace and joy, independent of our circumstances.

This is not a denial of challenging times, nor of our emotions. However, it involves a decision of our will. We can decide that we will live a happy, peaceful, joyous life. And, come what may, if we continue to adhere to this decision, we will live happy, peaceful and joyous lives. The brave may have to “grope a little,” in the dark and “sometimes hit a tree directly in the forehead,” as the poetess Emily Dickinson wrote. But, as she went on to say, we can “learn to see.” (5)

Difficult days lie ahead for many of us living here on planet Earth. Perhaps, we can help ourselves and others - immeasurably - if we take these issues to heart and if we decide, within ourselves, to be brave.

Until next time,

K. M. Anderson

PhD, Metaphysics

PhD, Spiritual Counseling

At Whisperia

P.S. For your convenience and enjoyment, I’ve included Emily Dickinson’s brilliant poem in Footnote 5, below.

Notes

1. In Paul’s letter to the Philippians, Chapter 4, verse 12, King James Version

2. In this same letter to the Philippians, Chapter 4, verse 12, New International Version

3. “Where Angels Tread,” by K. M. Anderson at whisperia.substack.com

4. “Slumbering Thoughts,” by K. M. Anderson at whisperia.substack.com

5. [We grow accustomed to the Dark-] by Emily Dickinson.

   (This poem is in the public domain.)

We grow accustomed to the Dark -

When Light is put away-

As when the Neighbor holds the Lamp

To witness her Goodbye-

A Moment - We uncertain step

For newness of the night -

Then - fit our Vision to the Dark -

And meet the Road - Erect -

And so of larger - Darknesses-

Those Evenings of the Brain -

When not a Moon disclose a sign -

Or Star - come out - within -

The Bravest - grope a little -

And sometimes hit a Tree

Directly in the Forehead -

But as they learn to see -

Either the Darkness alters -

Or something in the sight

Adjusts itself to Midnight -

And Life steps almost straight.