In response to Mr G’s earlier piece, Dispelling darkness with light came this.  When asked how I imagine God, the sensation that always forms within me is of deep, rich, velvety darkness – an enfolding – and a profound sense of safety.  There’s something a bit imperceptible about it: neither warm nor cool, but at blood heat, meaning that at times you have to pay attention to notice God’s presence.  A bit like a second skin….  It’s strange in a way that this image or feeling should have formed for me because as a child I was scared of the dark – but maybe that’s telling too – something about trust, perhaps. 

And at times, when things seem bleak and dark and starved of light, it feels as though God might be absent too.  That primal fear of the dark night and what it might contain surfaces in us and leaves us feeling alone and anxious. 

So much of our language revolves around the notion of light countering the darkness.  Yet it was God who said ‘Let there be light’ – God, who existed before the light came into being.  So seek and know God in the darkness too…

Piers

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