I was a little boy, scared of the dark, that failed in being brave. No more than four or five, I remember the monsters and images over walls in room—shadows cast by silver light of rising moon.
I went to my father, asking to be saved and comforted in my fears. He returned with me, restoring me in place on top bunk of my bed.
“Remember, shadows aren’t real,” my father spoke. “They are only an aspect of something that is; and how they appear to be may be very different than what they truly are.”
I remember it all still. He took a reading lamp fastened by clamp to the headboard of my bed and moved it in position around us, showing how our shadows changed.
“Sometimes a shadow seems greater than the truth.” Shadows stretched large and ominous on wall and ceiling behind as he held the light low before us.
“Sometimes,” he continued. “They are smaller than we are.” He held the light above us, and my shadow erased into the bed spread beneath me.
“There can only be shadows if there is darkness, and it is to the darkness that our shadows stretch. But there can only be shadows, too, if there is light. It’s the light that gives shadows life, and only by light are we aware that any shadow’s cast. How big and small a shadow seems is all relation to where the object stands in relationship between the two.”
He changed the light again, and our shadows returned large, dark, and imposing over wall and ceiling behind.
“Sometimes, our shadows appear most scary when we, ourselves, are most illumed.
Don’t be scared,” he comforted. “The shadow isn’t you…
…And if ever you are scared,” he spoke, moving away and back to doorway of my room, “surround yourself in light.”
He flipped the switch beside the doorway, and light flooded from above.
“A shadow cannot show when there is no darkness for it to go.”
My father smiled. “Sleep well,” he told me, leaving the lights on. “It’s good to be aware, but don’t be afraid,” he comforted.
I never forgot that lesson, as simple as it sounds; and I relive it still in times when I sense my shadow grow; turning again to light, immersion, ridding darkness and harbor where shadows show.