In darkness we are revealed.
– The Doctor in Extremis, Dr. Who, aired May 2017
This can mean a few different things, and we all find our own meaning. The meaning that means something to us.
Character testing. It can be understood in an ordinary sense. In dark times, we are tested. Our character is revealed. And, as they say, it builds character. For me, this is an invitation for authenticity. For not beating around the bush. For not being dishonest with myself (and also others).
Dark night. I also have to see it in the context of the dark night of the soul. First, there is often a period of illumination, an initial awakening. All is revealed as Spirit and we live within that, buoyed by the initial excitement and revelation. This may last for a short or long time.
Then, there may be a dark night of the soul. What we earlier relied on – the light, guidance, enthusiasm, clarity, esteem, health, intellectual capacity, health, friends, family, money – may be taken away from us. This reveals the darkness in us.
It reveals the “dark” areas of ourselves, the unhealed, unloved, unquestioned. And it comes with an invitation for us to see and feel it, meet it with love (and see it’s already loved), question the beliefs and identities wrapped up in it, and find healing for it.
In this “darkness”, we are also invited to live more deeply the realization that all is Spirit, including that in us, others, and life that our personality and human self don’t like or want. We may have earlier seen that all is Spirit, here it’s put to the test.
In the absence of the obvious light, we are also invited to recognize more deeply that all is emptiness. All is void. Any content of experience happens within and as void.
Dr. Who. In the context of Dr. Who, and knowing that Steven Moffat is the current writer, I assume it means none of these things but something more surprising and appropriate to that universe.
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Initial notes…..
- in darkness we are revealed
- ordinary sense
- tested, show our character, build character etc. (authenticity)
- dark night of the soul
- remove the previous light (initial phase, honeymoon)
- reveals the darkness
- reveals the “dark” areas of ourselves, the unhealed, unloved, unquestioned w. an invitation to see/feel, love, question, heal
- invited to discover/live more deeply the realization that all is Spirit, including that which our personality/human self doesn’t like, take it in, absorb it in a deeper way
- emptiness that all happens within and as
- ordinary sense
This can mean a few different things, and we all find our own meaning.
…..
It can be understood in an ordinary sense. In dark or trying times, we are tested. Our character is tested and revealed. And it also builds character. For me, this is an invitation for authenticity. For not beating around the bush. For not being dishonest with myself (and also others).