No light without shadows

The changing leaves remind us of the transforming power of God. Someone has said that a 'saint' is someone who lets the light of God shine through their life.

I just finished reading Robert Johnson's memoir, Balancing Heaven and Earth. Johnson has been a major Jungian writer for several decades. Jungian psychology certainly goes outside the bounds of orthodox Christian theology. Nevertheless, Carl Jung's discoveries about our Inner Journey has its helpful aspects. Jung's way of framing the human experience appears to me to be authentic when he writes about Individuation, the Collective Unconscious, Archetyptes, introversion/extroversion, dream symbolism, etc. Robert Johnson's memoir nudged me to be more aware of psychological balance, God's providential guidance, and our need to wait on God.

Wholeness (and health) contains both light and darkness, brightness and shadow. Accepting of life as it is-- embracing ourselves as we are, warts and all--is the road to wholeness. Don't misunderstand--I'm not saying that we don't need to improve ourselves; there is always room for improvement. (In fact, someone has said that the largest room in the world is the 'room for improvement.') But to try and get rid of the shadow side of ourselves is to also snuff out the light.  


[photo taken by me at Carillon Park]