Awakening to Wholeness is a series of prompts, reflections, and teachings about how holding the tension of opposites can help us to heal division and experience wholeness. If you feel moved to share your own reflections, we invite you to email us with the subject line “Wisdom of Opposites” or tag us on social media with #EHoPWisdomOfOpposites.
Often, when I point to regular, daily life patterns as the fodder that gives us wisdom, I use the example of day and night. Most of the world (with the exception of the extremes at the poles) experiences the alternation between the light of day and the shadow of night on a daily basis.
From this frequent and regular pattern, we build up the muscles of belief that the sun will always rise. Its regular rhythm assures us that there are things that we can depend on, and teaches us the contours of certainty. We can, perhaps blindly, trust that each day, another day will come. This regular rotation of day and night sets us up to be able to recognize other sets of opposites—cold and hot, long and short, right and wrong.
Interestingly, there is another part of each day that arrives just as consistently as the light of day and the shadow of night: the twilight of dusk and dawn. Twilight is a “third thing,” an in-between space and time that reminds us of ambiguity, of mystery, and of unknowing. Twilight, too, carries the weight of wisdom patterns—though it can more difficult to notice, and harder for us to recognize its value.
Many humans choose not to face uncertainty and unknowing. However, doing so allows for the development of a different kind of trust. Rather than blind trust, twilight teaches us the trust of a tested faith, a faith made strong by the muscles of waiting and wonder. Through these wisdom patterns of creation, our souls can learn to delight in the fullness of both certainty and mystery.
Contemplative Questions
We offer the following questions as prompts to help you reflect on the presence of opposites in your spiritual practice and your life.
- How would you describe your experience of yourself, the world, the Divine, in the light of day?
- How does it differ from how you experience yourself, the world, the Divine, in the darkness of night?
- How has the regular rhythm of day and night, or the mystery of twilight, taught you to understand the tension of opposites?
Join the conversation! If you feel moved to share your reflections, we invite you to email us with the subject line “Wisdom of Opposites” or tag us on social media with #EHoPWisdomOfOpposites.
You can now sign up to have every post in the Awakening to Wholeness series delivered directly to your inbox. Subscribe here.
Christine Luna Munger
Christine Luna Munger, PhD currently serves as the director of the Episcopal House of Prayer. She previously served as Coordinator of the Spiritual Direction Certificate and Professor of Theology at St. Catherine University. She regularly writes, teaches, and leads group prayer sits at EHoP.
You must be logged in to post a comment.