Out of Darkness

In the darkness, I do not know if I am looking out or looking in.  Are those eyes staring back at me or just a creepy shadow?  It is easy to be scared in the dark.  It is not the norm for most of us and our brains do not process the low light images well.  

James Weldon Johnson, famous poet of the early part of the 20th century and author of the poem “The Creation”, told a story of how God created our World out of darkness.

Darkness covered everything,

Blacker than a hundred midnights

Down in a cypress swamp.

Most of us have found ourselves in a situation like Johnson describes.  Darkness covers everything, we are disoriented and lost.  For Johnson he wrote that God smiled and all was changed.

Then God smiled,

And the light broke,

And the darkness rolled up on one side,

And the light stood shining on the other,

And God said: That’s good!

For Johnson, God had human qualities.  He was lonely and made the world.  He had hands and feet and could smile.  With that smile, he created light.  Question is, Do we have that same power?  Can we create light with a smile.  Mary Richards turned the world on with her smile.  What power does a smile have in pushing back the darkness in the world?

From that light, Johnson’s God created the universe and earth, then he made a man by breathing life into a molded lump of clay.

This great God,

Like a mammy bending over her baby,

Kneeled down in the dust

Toiling over a lump of clay

Till he shaped it in is his own image;

Then into it he blew the breath of life,

And man became a living soul.

Amen.      Amen.

Let’s start with a smile.  Then, since we are created in his image, we can create our own universe and finally ourselves.  Out of the darkness a new life will be created and That Will Be Good!  

Here is link to the full text of Johnson’s poem. https://www.poets.org/poetsorg/poem/creation

Darkness