tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-10944560.post116671433377091325..comments2024-01-01T08:18:36.278-05:00Comments on Real Physics: DarknessLawrence Gagehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/01242322119143922513noreply@blogger.comBlogger2125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-10944560.post-28883158401515555682007-03-20T15:47:00.000-04:002007-03-20T15:47:00.000-04:00Further discussion here.Further discussion <A HREF="http://www.haloscan.com/comments/maclinhorton/2811051390611018528/" REL="nofollow">here</A>.Anonymousnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-10944560.post-1166788918272150012006-12-22T07:01:00.000-05:002006-12-22T07:01:00.000-05:00Hi LG: Good post. Darkness is not a real b...Hi LG:<BR/> Good post.<BR/> Darkness is not a real being but a being of reason—it is the absence or privation (total or partial) of light.—darkness is one mode of being, light is another. When we say, “the sky is dark,” we do not really mean the very beingness of the sky is darkness, rather, we mean there is not much light: when we say “the sky is dark” we do not mean the sky IS dark. We do not sense darkness—we sense a lack of a real being, i.e., light. That’s the geek in me speaking…<BR/> … I say this not at all to criticize what you wrote (which I thought was quite good). Rather, it’s to bring out how I like to understand votive candles or vigil lamps. It’s especially interesting during Advent, when there is more and more darkness (err, I mean, less and less light), and yet on a weekly basis the Advent candles increase the light. The symbolism is breath-taking if you think about.<BR/> The light of the vigil lamp can hardly be seen when the “lights” are turned on. Darkness helps me to center on that light… and beyond to that which it symbolizes. Who saw the Star of Bethlehem? The shepherds who kept watch over their flocks by night, i.e., “in” darkness. Who missed the Star of Bethlehem? Those in the brightly-lit taverns or palaces or those too caught up in their own self-created “lights” that rationalized away the “extra bright” star. Will one find a vigil lamp or votive candle among the secular slef-proclaimed “Brights”? Hardly. Darkness can come when we let certain objects of the mind cast shadows—blocking the Light… but that is a foul kind of darkness. Darkness also comes when we run away from the Light into our own shadows… but that is also a foul kind of darkness. The darkness of the church, however, permits holiness to be seen by those who seek it—the darkness of the church is a removal of the “extra” distracting lights. Why is it sometimes so difficult to find God—who is admittedly shrouds Himself in silence and darkness? Because we drown Him out with our own artificial lights and cacophony of shrill sounds (which Peguy’s poem nicely captures): we find it so hard to be still and quiet in the darkness… when He asks us to “be still, and know that I am God.” (Psalm 46:10)<BR/> Merry Christmas!Anonymousnoreply@blogger.com