ANDY SAYS… ~ NOT WITHOUT DARKNESS

Many times lately, I have heard reference to darkness (dark times, dark days ahead, dark character, dark spirit, dark period, Dark Age) made in a manner and tone irrespective of the necessity and unique qualities depth, isolation, and darkness bring to light.

Wonder, to where would a seed go to realize its potential, if not below ground, out of sight, away from light? The fact is, below the surface is where warmth and the pressure of enclosure provide proper nourishment for the seed to break out of itself, mingle with and be fed by its surroundings and breach the surface as a transformed being ready to bear fruit in the light of day.

Ponder, why does the caterpillar, after awhile, say good-bye to the external world, encase itself, shunning all else, in order to search, find and embrace what it carried within all its life? It is because the call from inside itself rather than from the outside world became stronger, to the point that the power to fly or transcend, its innate natural ability had to be allowed to happen.

Ever thought about sex? How…without the hollows of cavernous orifices, the closed private room and envelopment of bed sheets, where the act most usually occurs, would the lightening flash of ecstatic and temporarily overwhelming feeling come…without darkness?

Let there be light says the G-d of Abraham, Isaac and Jacob. Obviously, if light had to be let in, it must have had to be allowed, permission to be from its parent, darkness. The G-d of Muhammad (Peace and Blessings be upon his name) says the kaff or cave, is (like the soil or womb) a place of solitude and darkness where a seeker must retreat to find what is equally as important as what can be seen in light. The Hindu Upanishads and the Buddha speak of darkness as a place of refuge, solace, transformation and necessity. All great faiths and the teachers of them acknowledge darkness as the place where life transitions and transforms, where it begins (Womb) and to where it returns (Tomb).

Sisters and Brothers, darkness is real and necessary. From it we grow, as we engage and nurture what the limits of light could not alone make. Within oneself, in darkness that is, one sees the full scope of what lies in a personal depth, that part of each which can never be shown, heard, smelled, translated or otherwise told, only felt. Our eyes must be open to see the outside world however; they must be closed to see the universe within. (There…less than a millimeter of skin between two worlds.)

Therefore, I say be ye not afraid of the valleys, shadows or death…depression, loss or expiration. Walk tall, boldly and emerge all the better from your darkness in the fullness of Light. The good of life, the peace in quiet, calm satisfaction are all to be had but, not without darkness.