March 29, 2023
As the month of March draws to a close, I write one last time about a THING. In March we’ve looked at the topics of Animals, Wells, Tools, and Doors. A thing … on this 5th Wednesday of the month … hmmmm. The sun has emerged after clouds, rain, gray, and snow. A thing?
As I walk outside, I have raised my face and arms to the sky. The warmth and brightness making me feel a little bit more alive, a little more happy, and a little bit …. hey, what is that?? Sort of off to the side … and a little behind me. Hmmm … It’s not a person, an animal, or a figment of my imagination. And yet its there, following me. Staying close and seemingly connected. It’s … gasp, a SHADOW.
I remember as a kid being curious about shadows, and for a while a little obsessed. I wanted to know WHO they were. WHERE they came from. HOW they functioned. And WHY every kid on the playground had one that looked something like them and not me. But then the merry-go-round would beckon me. A swing would be empty. A cute girl would be playing hopscotch. My buddies would want to play red rover or baseball, and my interest in shadows would suddenly fade, just like them.
According to one dictionary a shadow is, “a dark area or shape produced by a body coming between rays of light and a surface.” Seems rather technical, doesn’t it? But it .. he … or whatever, is like me in so many ways, so I will stick with a personal pronoun. If I jump, so does he. If I use my hands and fingers to form some object (heart, box, animal figure) he does too. Watching HIM, He seems to reflect and even mimic my actions, moods, and even thoughts. So I stood there … just Me and My Shadow, contemplating my shadow.
One of the songs that has stuck with me over the years is none other than, ME AND MY SHADOW. It has been performed by many artists over the years. Some versions are melancholy in nature like the one by by Judy Garland. So much passion, the loneliness and sadness just oozes from her version. Others are extremely light-hearted, like the one by Frank Sinatra and Sammy Davis. If you don’t know the lyrics, you can check them out here.
Shadows simply reflect us … our life. When the sun (the goodness of life) is out we feel marvelous and dance and sing all day. People who watch will see us and our shadow frolicking in unison. When the clouds (the ugly and bad times of life) come out, our demeanor will often become listless and our shadow will fade into the darkness, possibly disappearing all together.
The Bible talks about shadows and presents numerous lessons that we can learn from shadows. One Christian site said about shadows:
The word “shadow” is used in several ways in the Bible.
There is the obvious and literal meaning (e.g., 2 Kings 20:9-11; Acts 5:15).
Then there are places where it means shelter (e.g., Psalm 17:8; Isaiah 30:2).
It can also be used figuratively to mean things that are symbolic of something else. For example, the law of Moses is described as a “shadow” of Christ (Colossians 2:17; Hebrews 8:5; 10:1). We might use the word “foreshadowing” in the same way.
In each case, the context makes it clear how the word is being used.
As stated earlier, shadows are caused by a light source revealing an object upon a surface. As I looked at my shadow, the source was the natural sun. As I pondered this, my mind immediately went to God as the ultimate source of light. When I am unhinderedly close to Him, He uses me to influence and impact the area around me. When I am hidden from Him or distant from Him, I have little or any of any of His reflection upon my life; thus leaving little of His shadow upon the world around me.
One of the cultural pundits of our life time has said, “If you don’t have any shadows you aren’t in the light!”
BE someone who casts a shadow for God on the playground of life.