Redeeming the Night

Shadows and darkness have been tainted to the human mind for centuries now. It is an unfortunate misunderstanding or deliberate attempt to cut the universe down into managable parts. One of my favorite ideals expressed through the wonderful work of J.R.R. Tolkien is the redemption of the night. Once the abode and retreat of evil things, when filled with the glory and presence of sacred and holy beings, even the night and shadows can be a place of comfort and peace if not of joy as well. I know for a fact that there is one moment every day when I enjoy the embrace of darkness, of shadows. When I lay down to sleep, nothing helps me fall asleep faster than laying down to see almost nothing at all, then slowly, it all fades away. Sometimes I play, trying to hold my eyes open as long as I dare, and the dark shadows always had a way of seeming to grow, to spread out as they swallowed everything in the room. Now I think this 'trick of the eye' happens as my eyelids slowly close up while I try to hold them open without even a blink to keep me from witnessing the growing darkness.

Is it too far a stretch to think of goodness, of hope hidden within the darkness all about our lives? I do not think so. I think it has been said before that there is evil that presents itself as 'an angel of light'. Is it too much to think that if evil can dress in white robes, that perhaps good beings can hide in the multitudes of shadows? That the dark spaces between the lights of the heavens could be filled with an overabundance of joy, and hope?

Perhaps there is places where darkness and light are full of good, and places where darkness and light are full of evil. Maybe, just maybe, our world, or universe as we call it, could be hovering somewhere in between. Like the thick blanket falling over me as I lay down to sleep, I will find hope in the darkness, just as much as I find hope in the stars and the moon at night, and the sun that rises in the day.

Another benefit to the darkness, another blessing bestowed by the Architect of this manifestation of life, and this is only theoretical, is the sight beyond the physical world. When we can not see with our physical eyes, I believe it is often easier to see with our spiritual eyes. In a similar fashion, silence could be considered darkness to the ears. When there is nothing for the physical ears to hear, we can listen with our spiritual ears more easily.

Of course, the simplest illustration to the blessings of the night, of darkness and shadow, is perhaps that even the most horrible bad day will come to an end, and we will have a chance to rest in the night, before another day dawns.