The Celtic View of Darkness

©Cindy Thomson

For the Celts this time of the year (winter) was simply the dark half of the year. There is something about darkness that people don't like--maybe because it's hard to see. Christians, in particular, refer to darkness as everything bad or evil. But really, isn't darkness part of God's plan?

God called the light "day," and the darkness he called "night." And there was evening, and there was morning—the first day. Genesis 1:5

Without night, when would we rest? While people do sleep during the daytime, it's not the optimum time for rest. When darkness falls, when we can't see into the night, we settle into a routine that involves sleeping. Winter is like that too. It's a time for nature to sleep and prepare for spring.

All that aside, consider not seeing for a moment. Sometimes I listen to music with my eyes shut. Without the distraction of all the things I can, I am able to concentrate on the music better. Seeing with the heart can be one of the most difficult things to accomplish, but also one of the most rewarding. The Celtic Christians asked God to give them his eyes for seeing, an ability to view others and the world around the way God views them. And for that, you do not need physical eyes.

"I can see, and that is why I can be happy, in what you call the dark, but which to me is golden. I can see a God-made world, not a manmade world." - Helen Keller