Friday, December 26, 2025: Seeing in the Dark

To Know the Dark

To go in the dark with a light is to know the light.

To know the dark, go dark. Go without sight,

and find that the dark, too, blooms and sings,

and is traveled by dark feet and dark wings.

- Wendell Berry

SEEING IN THE DARK

Our year begins in the dark, as do so many other generative processes. Seeds and bulbs grow in the soil of the earth, and embryos form in the womb. Animals and plants hibernate. Those who desperately needed a message of liberation in a world of conflict and power, like the shepherds and magi, were in the dark when they heard the good news. 

In early Greek healing centers, the first thing doctors had patients do was bathe and then sleep. We all need sleep and renewal in the darkness, which is essential to our well-being. Home was described to me as a place you can walk about in the dark!

We use the dark as shorthand for anything that scares us. But we can redeem the true meaning of darkness and respect its place as an essential part of life. Here is not the absence of the holy but the presence of the divine. 

We know that without darkness, nothing rests and nothing grows. This is the time for beginnings. Where do you want to plant seeds? Where do you want to be? 

Be Not Afraid

Hundreds of times our faith stories tell us, “Be not afraid!” We are never told there is nothing to be afraid of. I find that very reassuring — we don’t have to pretend there is nothing to fear. 

Like the moon waning and waxing, we are called to life and to wholeness through it all. As someone said, "I have learned things in the dark I could never have learned in the light." In the dark, I have built courage and managed fear. 

Going Forth in the Dark

Now is a season for setting aside the hectic busyness of our culture. Slow down. Take a deep breath. Embrace the night. Recognize the darkness, both in us and around us. 

Dark times are part of all our stories: economic hardship, war, personal grief, loss, and times when things fall apart. We must claim the darkness - and find the light - in us and around us. 

Let the goodness of the dark surround you and hold you. Be open to this time: to the time of slowing, listening, waiting, and clearing room for new life to grow. Make this a time of healing, so that we might enter into times of hoping and dreaming. 

Take time this season to make peace in your own heart and to make room for new beginnings. Then we can discern where our gifts and our hearts and the world’s needs come together. And always be looking for stars and songs. Go out with vision, assurance, hope, peace, and JOY!  

- Betty Pagett