In uncertain times such as these…

“Don’t ask what the world needs. Ask what makes you come alive and go do it, because what the world needs is people who have come alive.” Thank you, Howard Thurman.

Thurman’s invitation is grounded in the reminder of, and the abundance in, the graciousness at the heart of creation.

Okay. This all sounds good. And we want to say, “Yes and Amen”.

But I can tell you that there are times when I wonder. What about the times I don’t see the graciousness?

What about the times I see only darkness, when I see only the shadow side?

Here’s my conundrum; I do want to embrace this invitation to be more human and fully alive.

And I don’t want to run or hide from sadness, or the rawness. And I don’t want to give way to apathy, or to anger and bitterness.

So. What do I do with the darkness—the shadow side—in life?

What do I do with those veins of disappointment, doubt, disillusion, insecurity, disenchantment, un-fulfillment, heartache, shame—or, you name it—which can course through our psyche.

Over the years with Sabbath Moment, I have written about life’s “shadows”. I did not do so to generate interest. I wrote for some catharsis in my own soul, because some days, the shadows plague me. And, it turns out that whenever I did write about shadows, it did generate interest. And I’m glad I wrote, because in the writing (the speaking, the voicing, the embracing) I gave myself the permission to live there, find acceptance there—to find the sacrament of the present moment there—at least for the time being.

I know that there will always be someone, usually in the name of God, to tell me that I need to pray more, or believe more, or try harder, but I find restorative grace and healing in having someone say to me, “I don’t know if, or how, you lost your way today, but if it’s okay by you, I’ll sit with you on the back deck for a spell. Let’s just watch the sky, and see if we can’t relish, and take heart in the colors the shadows make at dusk.”

Yes, my friends, even in the shadows, wherever you are, be all there. Because even in the shadows, let us remember the graciousness at the heart of creation.

“Look round and round upon this bare bleak plain, and see even here, upon a winter's day, how beautiful the shadows are! Alas! it is the nature of their kind to be so. The loveliest things in life, Tom, are but shadows; and they come and go, and change and fade away, as rapidly as these!” Charles Dickens (Martin Chuzzlewit) “Sabbath Moments” Terry Hershey.com