LITR 3731 Creative Writing 2008

Thursday, 27 March:

1^st Fiction Author: Val Gordon

1^st fiction Author’s Discussion Leader: Susan Butaud

Opposites

           Most words in our vocabulary have an antonym, an antithesis or opposite.  Man and woman...I wonder why the man always come first, rain and shine, up and down.  There is good and evil, light and dark.  My mind wanders over those two...what are they exactly?  Which is the stronger?  Is the light good, as we have been led to believe, and is the dark evil?

          Dictionary.com defines light as "the radiation or illumination from a particular source".  We get light from many sources.  Thomas Edison made it possible for all of us to light up our world with the flip of a switch.   We keep flashlights for emergencies and stock up on candles and oil lamps in case the batteries run out.  We leave lights in the windows for travelers.  Christians believe that Jesus was the light of the world.  Composers write songs about light, songs like You Light Up my Life.  The sun lights our days and the moon our nights.   When the moon is dark, we have the stars.  The lights of our cities can be seen from many miles into space and make the stars and moon seem dim in comparison.  Is this a good thing?  

          Since human beings began to roam this earth, we have strived to eliminate the darkness.  What could not be seen, those things that were hidden in the dark, were to be feared.  Cavemen gathered in groups, thinking there was safety in numbers.  With the knowledge of fire came a defense against the darkness, a way to keep their offspring safe, secure from those unseen threats in the blackness outside the reach of the flames.  Each night as we ready our own children for slumber, we are asked to check in the closet and under the bed; all the dark places.  To ease the fear of what is waiting there, we leave a nightlight burning to keep our precious babies safe.  In the cities, we hold back the night by lighting up our neighborhoods with electricity.  We gather in groups, like our ancestors, keeping at bay the face of the unknown that dwells in the dark.  We drink, dance, and act merry in our artificial daytime, thinking that the light and noise will keep us safe.  And still, there are places, in the shadows that the light does not reach.  Does that mean that the dark is evil?

          As I ponder these questions, the last rays of the sun are melting in the western sky.  Night slips in behind, turning the heavens blue, that darkens to black in the east.  I turn on the lamp next to my bed and then extinguish the lights in the rest of the house, trying to stave off the night a few moments longer.

          Dictionary.com says that dark is "having very little or no light; gloomy, cheerless, dismal; evil, iniquitous, wicked.  Can dark really be all that or is it different things to different people?

          I knew a young man in high school who had been totally blind from birth.  For Phil it was always night.  He had never seen the colors of the wildflowers or the shadow he cast in the sunshine.  He did not let his blindness stop him from experiencing all that life could offer.  He played the twelve string guitar and built a ham radio from specially marked parts.  When I last saw him he was working for Billy Graham.  Clearly the dark was not his enemy, nor was it evil; it was all he knew.  We talk of something being "as dark as a cave" and criminals revel in "the dark of the moon".  The dark steals the colors us and replaces them with shades of gray.

          The period in mankind's history known as the Dark Ages was not dark, there was as much sunlight as there is now.  We call it that because it was a period of little enlightenment.  There was little learning, art, or music; those pursuits that bring joy to so many.  Can it be that those things, far from being electric, can add light to our world?

          There are some who believe that the dark is a good thing.  For them it brings relief from pain, it hides the outward trappings of our imperfect world.  It covers the disasters that mankind has wrought upon this planet and makes our world look, for even a short time, more like that one our creator made.  Before the advent of electrically powered lighting, the darkness meant a respite from labor.  

          As I lie down to sleep I know that this should be a time for rest, for the body and the soul.  I know this in my mind, but me heart still holds that trace of fear that the dark held for those who came before me. 

          A time for rest…for the soul…

          In the darkness it reaches out. Tentatively, from that place that is devoid of light, bereft of hope.  It is searching, ensuring that there is no light.  As it advances, it brings with it the numbing, cold breath of lifelessness.  It is hungry, and only in the darkness can it find what it needs.  As the malignancy spreads, it leaves behind the excrement of shattered dreams and futile wishes.

          To this hellish garden they come, the fallen angels.  They come to spew their seeds, these demons of horror; Lucifer and Leviathan; Satan and Belphegor; Mamman, Beelzebub and Asmodai.  And they grow, those seeds, closing off all chinks where light could find a foothold.  Pride and envy spread; wrath, sloth and avarice entwine; gluttony and greed fight to choke the others.  The unholy miasma thrives there, in the dark, nourished by despair and watered with useless tears.

          And still it is hungry.  As it rears up, in search of the last vestige of resistance, I see it.  I see this malicious evil, this putrid ravager.  It is I.

          That face is a contorted, malicious copy of my own.  Could that ugly, hateful creature really be me?  Is that is my soul lurking the darkness?  The thought drives me to despair, sears my soul.  Is there no escape?

          But wait...I can see it. There is a small glimmer, just a spark that is, perhaps, waiting to erupt into full flame.  It is the glow of hope, of life, and if I can fan this fire, I will be saved.           

It is morning, at last.  I can only thank God that I have come through the dark unscathed.  Perhaps light is something more than sunshine or fluorescence.  I need to have more light, more hope to help me in that awful dark place.  Where can I find it?

Maybe if I share some of my light with others, I can increase my own.  If I share with someone who is in need, then my light will grow stronger.  Maybe a kindness to a stranger who has no hope will brighten both of our lights.  And surely with faith in the love and forgiveness of God, I can be loving and forgiving.  As I go through this new, sunny day let me reach out my hand and spread some of my own light to everyone whose lives I touch.  Maybe something as simple as a smile or a kind word will cause my soul to be brighter.

link to discussion leader's questions