Shadows

I love to take pictures of shadows. Sometimes I take pictures of my own shadow (below is my shadow taken in Spokane, Washington (August, 2017). I think I do this because my shadow is taller than I actually am, and so for once, I can feel like I am six, or seven or even eight feet tall. Of course, the shadows get longer (or taller in my case) when the sun is lower in the horizon. If I were to take a picture of my shadow at high noon in the summer time, my shadow would not be very tall at all.

What else comes to mind when you think about shadows? I think about the things that “lurk in the shadows”. All of the scary things…and evil things. I think about Psalm 23:4, “Even though I walk through the valley of the shadow of death”. There are times when shadows are perceived as things we need to rid our lives of.

The Bible talks about the contrast between the light (representing good) and the darkness (representing evil). At times it also talks about shadows in the negative sense (numerous times in Job, Matthew 4 and James 1). But really, a shadow is just the effect of light shining on an object. And if light equals good, one can deduce that a shadow comes from that which is good. In thinking about this, my curiosity has been peaked.

I did a little more research and digging through the Bible about shadows. While there are verses that talk about shadows in the sense of something bad or evil, the Psalms are filled with verses that talk about living in the shadow of the Almighty (Psalm 91) or being in the “shadow of Your wings” (Psalm 17, 36, 57, 63). This sounds more to me like comfort and shelter, not darkness and evil.

One of my most favorite quotes is from Helen Keller. She famously quoted, “Keep your face to the sunshine and you cannot not see the shadow.” I would propose to change that to, “Keep your face to the Son-shine and you will not see the shadow.”  This is not to say that life is all “sunshine and roses”. But perhaps, if you find yourself staring at the shadows or when you find yourself in the valley of shadows, try to remember the light is right behind you. You just need to turn around. One can have a more positive and joyful outlook on life, when you turn your eyes to the Son.

This reminds me of the song “Shine, Jesus, Shine”, written by Graham Kendrick when I was in elementary school. It became a song that my middle school choir sang many a time. The second verse says,

“Lord, I come to your awesome presence, from the shadows into your radiance; by the blood I may enter your brightness. Search me; try me; consume all my darkness. Shine on me, Shine on me.”

May the light of Jesus shine on you today.

Also pictured here is the St. Louis Cathedral in New Orleans. I took this picture when we visited New Orleans in 2019.