Darkness often gets a bad rap. We tend to associate it with fear, danger, disorientation. For many of us, it is a space or experience that makes us feel vulnerable. And when darkness feels like a threat, we're convinced we need to steer clear.

However, I'm learning that darkness is not necessarily synonymous with evil; that it's not all bad; that not all darkness needs to be feared or avoided; that as vulnerable as it might make us, darkness can and should be welcomed.

As much as we might be prone to pit darkness and light against one another, I wonder if they actually go hand-in-hand. In the context of our life with God, I wonder if God is just as present and at work in the dark as God is present and at work in the light. I wonder if darkness can be holy ground, too.

Perhaps that's part of the good news of Christmas—that God is with us, even in the dark.

Dans Le Noir? Restaurant | London, England

Learning to Walk in the Dark by Barbara Brown Taylor

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