We often imagine Advent as a season of candles piercing the dark with the gift of Light. But what if the shadows themselves are part of the gift? Without shadow, light has no shape, no texture, no contrast. Scripture reminds us God Himself chose to dwell in thick darkness (1 Kings 8:12), a mystery that reframes our waiting. In the shadows of our lives—uncertainty, longing, grief—we discover the contours of hope. Advent teaches us to see hope not only in the light, but in the beauty of shadows that make it possible.
Welcome to the first post in my Advent Series, “Light in Unexpected Places”! Return here each of the four weeks of Advent to explore another aspect of light in the unexpected places of our lives.
Though shadows give shape to light, we often associate them with the dark side of shame, fear, loneliness, and abandonment. My own childhood memories contain those painful places of sitting alone in the dark, as a cast away. I remember many evenings wandering my neighborhood, afraid of the shadows cast around me by trees, lamp posts, or stray animals.
Or who of us has not stood “in the shadow” of someone else who received the praise or love we desperately desired?
Advent, however, reframes our view of shadows to one not of the absence of goodness, but one of longing for the light we know is there but not yet visible. The mystery of shadows is that by giving shape to light, they create a longing for that light.
Visible both in the daytime and at night, shadows accentuate light. We perceive light because of the presence of shadows. In the daytime, shadows bring a playfulness within the glories of the sunlight. While at night, shadows cast a fearful tableau against the scant moonlight.
In both instances, shadows confirm not the absence, but the existence of light.
Advent, during the calendar year’s darkest time of the winter solstice, introduces the shadows of longing and waiting, as we learn hope is formed in obscurity.
“The people living in darkness have seen a great light; on those living in the land of the shadow of death a light has dawned.”
Matthew 4:16 NIV (Quoting Isaiah 9:2)
Until the light of Christ’s coming in Bethlehem, the darkness of sin and shadow of separation from God remained indistinguishable. In the same way shadows remain unseen on a cloudy day, so the world remained in the indistinguishable shadows of sin, despair, grief and hopelessness, until the Light of Gods hope shined forth.
The shadows bore testimony to the Light, giving shape to God’s greatest gift, reflecting the beauty of God’s redemption hope.
“Whoever dwells in the shelter of the Most High will rest in the shadow of the Almighty.”
Since the beginning of God’s first revelations of himself to His people, He used the paradox of darkness, shadow and light, giving shape and contrast to His holiness. He spoke to Moses and the nation of Israe through the dark cloud on Mount Sinai, later revealing the light of His glory. (Exodus 20:21)
Again in 1 Kings 8:11-12, Solomon confirms God’s choice of dwelling in thick darkness, while God filled the newly built Temple with His glory.
The imagery of thick darkness serves as the backdrop for the light of divine revelation, illustrating God’s mysterious holiness and incomprehensibility. Shadows gift us a way of understanding the awe inspired by God majestic nature, but also the light of His glory in the treasures of the darkness.
“I will give you the treasures of darkness and the hoards in secret places, that you may know that it is I, the Lord, the God of Israel, who call you by your name.”
Reflecting on the shadows of waiting, uncertainty, and grief in our own lives during Advent reveals our deepest longing for the Light of hope in the depth of God’s love for us in sending His only Son as the Light of the world. (John 8:12)
Rather than viewing the shadowy margins of our lives as places of fear, we can choose to view them as sacred spaces where the light of God’s love and hope are revealed.
This Advent, as you focus once again on the coming of God’s light in glorious redemption of the darkness of sin and despair, allow your heart a moment of gratitude for the beauty of shadows. For it is the shadows which reveal the contrast of God’s presence with us.
As Advent begins, the invitation to a holy posture of waiting in the shadows reminds me in my own season of uncertainty of the depth of God’s love in His promise to send the One True Light.
If you, too, wait in the shadows of uncertainty, grief, or even despair, allow the shadows to reveal the contours of Hope.
“Lord of light and shadow, teach us to see Your presence in the places we fear and overlook. May the shadows of our waiting reveal the contours of your hope, and may we rest in the shelter of Your mystery. Amen.”
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