When I look back over my life I recognize I have utilized many resources for different seasons. Friends, counselors, family, pastors, psychologists, naturopaths, nutritionists, authors…all, in my experience, have held a key to wellness. The best word to describe the unity of these individuals in my life is “Teachers.”
The following is a lesson taken from a recent visit to one of my many life teachers: a psychologist who is also a retired pastor.
We discussed some of the dark times I had experienced in recent years. When I was finished my teacher asked me to consider the following. He had recently been studying the story of creation.
‘In the beginning there was darkness. A void. It was out of that darkness that God created light. God saw the light and He said that it was good. But he didn’t get rid of the darkness. It was from the darkness that He created the light.’
There is a cycle to everything. Cultures who live in areas of the world where they are exposed to long days or long nights suffer physical ailments either way. And if we are fully immersed in one or the other don’t we miss the beauty in both?
Take a photograph for example. When light reflects off an image the light can create an essence of beauty like the image of diamonds dancing on water as the sun bounces off the surface. But an overexposed picture, lacking shadows and definition is bland. In the same regard consider the stars. They are always hanging in the sky but one can only see them in the dark of the night. But too much darkness can hinder us. I recall my daughter playing her version of hide and seek at two years old. Hands over her eyes she walked through the house blinded, looking for me, counting as she bumped into many unforeseen obstacles along the way.
God created the light from the darkness. He saw the light and said that it was good. And then he kept them both.
