The earth was a formless void and darkness covered the face of the deep, while a wind from God swept over the face of the waters.
I’m grateful for artists, teachers, preachers, and scholars across disciplines who have sought to thoughtfully engage the deeper implications of suggesting that darkness is bad and light is good.
Sometimes darkness and light are even understood to be pitted against each other, with one or the other destined to prevail. Unfortunately, the metaphor from the creation story in the first chapter of Genesis has been used to reinforce these points.
But that dangerous dichotomy is not what I read here. I read light and dark as operating harmoniously, on one accord toward the same purpose: the fullness of day.
I read the intentional naming of the presence of God’s spirit in the darkness — sweeping, moving, speaking, creating.
I am grateful for the reminder of God’s powerful work in the dark.
In your life today, what does a practice considering light and dark in harmony rather than hierarchy look like?
(During Advent we'll be doing things a little differently. Our frames will be provided by five members of the leadership team at Juniper Formation. Learn more here.)
--Javon Bracy
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