“The Goodness of Light and Dark”
On Sunday, I shared with the congregation some of the things I enjoyed most about Barbara Brown Taylor’s book Learning to Walk in the Dark. She writes about the bad rap “darkness” gets in our culture and churches: “I cannot remember the last time I heard anyone use ‘dark’ to describe something good.” Just think about the ways we use “dark” in our language. When someone says, “I am in a dark place in my life right now,” it is definitely not a good place to be! If someone says “I have been having dark thoughts,” these are certainly not good or happy thoughts. Our Scriptures generally refer to darkness in a negative light as well.
However, Barbara Brown Taylor points out that many stories in the Bible describe really good things happening in the darkness. It was at night that God led Abraham outside his tent and told him to look up in the sky; God then told Abraham to count the stars and said, “So shall your descendants be.” The promise of our Judeo-Christian heritage began in the dark! Furthermore, the author goes onto say that Joseph in the Old Testament had dreams at night which led him to saving his large, extended family, which eventually became the Jewish people. The amazing dreams which turned into reality happened in the dark! Finally, Jesus rose from the dead in the darkness of a cave at night. The list goes on…. Darkness is not such a bad thing after all. In fact, many good things happen in the dark!
I wrapped up my message by sharing a painting of Koki`o `Ula, the brilliant red hibiscus in the picture above. As an artist, darkness and shadows are my friends. They are absolutely necessary to create a painting that is three-dimensional, alive and beautiful. Imagine this painting without any darkness on the petals and leaves or in the background. I need darkness and shadows to paint a flower that is alive. We all need darkness and shadows to live. In fact, whether we realize it or not, darkness is as much a part of our lives as light and color. Perhaps we can accept the darkness in our lives and all around us when we realize that God is there as well.
Aloha nui!
Kahu Alan Akana
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Our Kahu (Pastor) offers a weekly message in church most Sundays during the year. You may see the Koloa Union Church YouTube channel to see many of his past messages and subscribe in order be notified when a new message is posted. Please share these videos with friends and invite them to church. Please feel free to “Like” any of the videos you see and share them on social media, such as Facebook, so that others will notice them.
“A Message from Kahu Alan Akana” is provided most weeks by the Kahu (Pastor) of Koloa Union Church, a congregation of the United Church of Christ (UCC), a member of the Kauai Association and Hawaii Conference.
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