We all have a shadow that follows us around. A dark side that no one else knows. Friends and family look in from the outside and see a black hole but we know it intimately because we are forced to navigate its murky waters on a daily basis. We are all flawed. The greatest women and men in history had a dark side. Sadly, in this age of cancel culture, we have forgotten this fact and act as if an indiscretion somehow makes us less human. Ironically, people living in the dark are hired to find flaws in the darkness of others for political advantage. They wield flashlights that are only capable of casting a narrow PC sized beam and then take a photo of  something lurking in the shadows without ever seeing the big picture. Digging up dirt on others is merely the pot calling the kettle black. Tearing down statutes of flawed human beings ultimately means that we must all be toppled. We are “the glory and refuse of the universe.” (Pascal) We are eager to toss rocks at others yet upon deeper reflection know that we are the ones who should be stoned.

Augustine posited that evil has no independent existence. Bad behavior isn’t an evil add on but a subtraction from the virtuous so we shouldn’t try to lop off the bad but fill in the good. We shouldn’t be iconoclasts bent on destroying image bearers but rather patrons of the divine arts intent on restoring others to their original very good condition.

How do we deal with the haunting we experience in the shadowlands? We have several choices. First, we can ignore our darkness and spend all of our time criticizing the length of the shadows cast by others. Second, we can embrace the fact that we all live in the darkness and make it the new norm where misery loves company. Finally, we can invite the Light of the World into our lives to expose the dark recesses and allow us to once again shine. We must, however, be careful not to use it as a light saber to go Jedi on one another, but as phototherapy for a world jaundiced by hate and anger.

We are not defined by the shadow we cast but by the amount of light we radiate. Let us not be content to live in the shadow of a man but in the Light of all mankind.

In him was life, and that life was the light of all mankind. The light shines in the darkness, and the darkness has not overcome it. (John 1: 4-5)

Photo by Marco Bianchetti on Unsplash