It occurs to me that darkness is not really a presence but an absence. This is very obvious to anyone who takes a moment to think about it, but we often assume opposites are competing presences when that is in fact not true. Darkness is not a presence at all, but the absence of light. The only way to create darkness is to remove light. Darkness cannot itself be created, yet we create light all the time.
This provides for me an interesting framework to use when looking at various topics. Let's go back to unity for a second. Division is the absence of unity, it is not itself a presence. We create division by removing unity. Peace, which I think is a core attribute of unity, is not the absence of conflict. Conflict, rather, is the absence of peace.
Why Presence is Important
I should explain why I think this is important, lest I begin to sound like the Sphinx from Mystery Men. We get rid of darkness by creating light. We get rid of conflict and division by creating peace and unity. Christ says "Blessed are the peacemakers" because peace must be made. When we pray for peace, when we talk about the "peace that passes understanding" we are talking about things that are given, a palpable presence.
Presences are powerful, they have weight they are "real". Absences on the otherhand are observed and felt, but they are empty, devoid of any true power. Darkness has no strength - turn on a light and it is gone. It cannot push back against light, it cannot exert force, it is helpless in the face of it. Likewise, when peace is present, turmoil and conflict dissipate - they cannot coexists.
Practical Implications
I think there are very practical implications with the absence/presence model. Going back to internal and external unity, let's consider why internal unity is necessary before external unity can be achieved. External division is much like darkness, it is overcome by a presence; in this case the presence of unity. But that presence is brought by individuals (God, cheif among them.) If an individual brings internal conflict, it is like bringing an unlit candle into a dark room - both the candle and the room remain dark.
A room is only lit when the candle is. The more candles there are, the brighter the room becomes. A person bringing an unlit candle into the room adds no light and adds an obscuring shadow from all the other candles. That person can choose to light the candle, but also extinguish others' candles. I think this is part of the conflict/unity dynamic. Do you bring light? Do you extinguish others' light? Do you simply stand there, casting a shadow behind you?
There is much food for thought here. Speaking of food, why not use this model for other "fruits of the spirit": Love, peace, patience, kindness, goodness, faithfulness, self-control. If you have any thoughts, pass them along!
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1 comment:
I wanted to add one more thing without making the post any longer than it already is: Absences only have the power we give them. That is to say, darkness is only powerful because we allow it to be. Conquering darkness takes only the flip of a switch, the strike of a match, or the patience to wait until dawn.
Darkness in and of itself has no power. It cannot harm you. It only hides those things that can harm you. Nobody truly fears the dark - only the things that darkness hides.
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