As children of the ’80s, many of my friends and I had t-shirts and sweatshirts bearing the proud proclamation: “I am Black and Beautiful.” As a matter of my upbringing, I thought this an uplifting phrase of affirmation from my community, rather than a biblical pronouncement. Now I know better.
I am black and beautiful… Why should I be like one who is veiled beside the flocks of your companions? – Song of Songs 1:5 & 7 excerpted (NRSV)
Every winter, as the shadows lengthen and the evening comes earlier, so many of us struggle with the darkness of the night sky lingering longer than we’d prefer. For reasons of the near-universal metaphor of “darkness = bad” and, alas, for reasons of racism, in this country and so many more, the darkness of Black as Beautiful is almost revolutionary thinking.
The longer nights carry their blessings. In my household, it’s much easier for the child to shut their eyes when bedtime comes after hours of darkness. And as we celebrate Epiphany, we are reminded that the stars are always there—we just don’t always see them.
The blackness of night reveals much. It is magnificent. It is beautiful. As shadows grow, revelation beckons. Epiphanies happen.
Reach into your blackness, beloved. Behold the beauty of the unknown and possible, the vast and expectant, the revealing and revealed.
God has much to unveil for you in this season. Just open your eyes—or, close them gently.
Prayer ~ Help me to look for your beauty in the contrasts, O God. Help me to know your grace, truth and glory, in Jesus’ name. Amen.
ABOUT THE AUTHOR: Kaji Douša is the Senior Pastor of The Park Avenue Christian Church, a congregation of the Christian Church (Disciples of Christ) and the United Church of Christ, in New York City.
Thoughts to ponder:
Can you identify when you first learned the idea that “darkness = bad”? How was this idea contradicted?
What do you appreciate about the long, dark, winter nights?