In His Shadow

So I was on Facebook and ended up watching a video of babies being scared of their own shadows (below for your viewing pleasure).  At first I laughed pretty hard because it was pretty cute and heartlessly hilarious to see the little ones trying to toddle away from their own shadows.  And then I plotted ways to get Micah to see his own shadow for the first time … and then finally the non-evil side of me (thank God, it’s there, I promise) imagined poor Micah crying and trying to crawl (or currently, worm) his way away from his own shadow and I felt really, really bad for him.

Because really, shadows can be creepy.

They appear and disappear.  They grow and distort.  They merge and mask.

And while shadow puppets and baby videos are all fun and good, we all have shadows that scare us.  That follow us and appear when we least expect them. That distort the truth.

The shadow of insecurity – fearing what others think and say of us.  The shadow of shame – regrets of the past that linger.  The shadow of loneliness – what if I never find love?

No wonder we try to run away from our own shadows.

But as psychiatrists like Carl Jung and philosophers like Zhuangzi have discovered, shadows are best dealt with in the shade:

There was a man who was so disturbed by the sight of his own shadow and so displeased with his own footsteps that he determined to get rid of both.  The method he hit upon was to run away from them.

So he got up and ran.  But every time he put his foot down there was another step, while his shadow kept up with him without the slightest difficulty.

He attributed his failure to the fact that he was not running fast enough.  So he ran faster and faster, without stopping until he finally dropped dead.

He failed to realize that if he merely stepped into the shade, his shadow would vanish, and if he sat down and stayed still, there would be no more footsteps.

~ From The Way of Chuang Tzu, by Thomas Merton, page 155.

What or where is your shade?

How do you find rest?

My favorite passage in the Bible is Psalm 121:

I will lift up my eyes to the hills—
From whence comes my help?
2 My help comes from the Lord,
Who made heaven and earth.

This passage has strengthened me through many dark days, when my shadows or the shadows of the world seemed looming and ominous.  I don’t think it’s saying that we won’t face difficulties; we live in a world of pain.  But it is promising that the Lord will preserve our soul so that the evil cannot penetrate our core.  He will be that hill that provides the shade we so desperately need when the sun is scorching down and our shadows are long.

He is the rest we are longing for.

He knows what it’s like to walk in the valley of the shadow of death, and He understands how scared we are of our own shadows.  So He offers us come, rest awhile – let me be the security you long for, for I will never leave you.  Let me be the righteousness you thirst for, for I will always forgive you.  Let me be the Love you yearn for, for I will always love you.

He is the shade that swallows all shadows, for in His death He conquered sin.  (“O Death, where is your sting?  O Hell, where is your victory?  … thanks be to God, who gives us the victory through our Lord Jesus Christ” 1 Cor 15:55-58).

In His shadow, our own shadows can disappear and we can discover who we truly are.  In His presence, there is peace.

Lord, Keep me as the apple of Your eye; Hide me under the shadow of Your wings…. Psalm 17:8.