Close your eyes and take a deep breath. Do you feel the reprieve that comes? lay your head on the pillow and turn the light off. Do you feel the instant relief? Take a break in the middle of chaos and go into a dark closet and close the door. Do you feel the retreat?

Darkness. It is beautiful and deep and healing. Pretend this is the first time you are hearing the word…you have no other meanings but what we are talking about right now. Deep, velvety, comforting darkness. It stays with you when the light is too bright for your aching. It catches you at the end of the day when your soul longs for rest. It claims you when you acknowledge that whatever was illuminated to you right before was painful.

As I have gotten to know God, the feminine side of God, (however she looks to you) I have felt this power in the way she can stand in darkness.

If you have a minute today close your eyes. Let whatever difficult emotion you have in you take hold inside. Anxiety, loneliness, heartbreak, depression, hopelessness, shame…now imagine sinking deep into the very depths of a bed or the ocean or whatever makes you feel comfortable. The darkness is so deep it is pressing on you. You realize it is embracing you. And then you realize it is Her. And she says: I have you. These feelings and thoughts you have are not too much for me. They do not scare me. I can hold them and you forever. When you decide to open your eyes you can leave these here, or take them with you. But I want you to know…I am loving you and holding you in your darkness. If it’s part of you, I love it. You can be dark and light. As you get better at seeing the truth in that you will understand the beauty in a life full of both, the goodness of a woman full of both.