Things that Don’t Exist but We Still Name: Shadows

Humans are interesting creatures.  We want to make sense of the world around us. We want to fell in Control. Ones of the strange things we do is naming things that don’t really exist. One of these is the shadow.

Shadows play a huge part in our daily life. They follow us around. They can help us tell time. They grow and shrink throughout the day. We use them to add dimension and depth to pictures and art.  The exit in our movies and our mythology. Most interestingly of all, we often fear them.

Shadows are mysterious. They represent the unknown. They are the hiding place of villains, monsters, and evil of all kinds. Do you remember, as a child, that closet in your room that would always create shadows that would inevitably turn into monsters? Oh come on. It wasn’t just me. According to Google AI, The global children's night light business (a segment of the broader night light market) is estimated to be worth approximately USD 1.5 billion annually as of 2024, and is projected to grow to USD 2.8 billion by 2031. That’s some serious night lighting! And Why? Because on a dark and stormy night, our imagination can turn them into almost anything.

Yet scientifically, a shadow is not really a thing. It has no substance, no merit on its own. It may, at times, hide nefarious things, but on its own it is nothing. Shadow is merely the absence of light. Shine a light on a shadow, and it disappears. A shadow cast on your hand or arm is imperceptible. You might notice a change in heat in sunlight, but that again is the lack of sunlight not the effect of shadow.

The Bible calls death a shadow. Psalm 23:4 says, Even though I walk through the darkest valley, I will fear no evil, for you are with me; your rod and your staff, they comfort me.  The King James Version says the “shadow of death”. Swiss psychiatrist Carl Jung has been quoted as saying, The brighter the light, the darker the shadow. We see this in the fight between good and evil. Where the light of God shines, the forces of evil work the hardest. Praise God, darkness itself cannot hurt us, because God is always with us. Remember what the scripture says? God is light, and in Him is no darkness. John 1:5

Darkness is absence of light. Shadow is diminution of light. Leonardo da Vinci

Keep your face always toward the sunshine - and shadows will fall behind you. Walt Whitman

Go, and live in the Light!

But if we walk in the light, as he is in the light, we have fellowship with one another, and the blood of Jesus, his Son, purifies us from all sin. 1 John 5:7 NIV