The Shadows We Cast

Aren’t shadows fascinating? We all project a shadow when we walk or sit in a strong light which throws our body shape onto a hard surface, usually the ground or a wall. Who remembers making animal shapes using their fingers and throwing them onto the wall by the light of a film projector or bedside light? Precious memories.

How fascinating children find it when they see their own shadow. Suddenly they’ve ‘grown’ to two or three times their actual height. Then, if they change position in relation to the light, it will look as though they’ve shrunk.  And how magical it seems to them that, wherever they go within range of the light source, their shadow goes with them.

As adults, though, we may not like the fact that our shadow reflects not just our changing size but also our changing shape as we get older. A shadow can be a really dark mirror at times!

Shadows can also be mysterious, even frightening. The corners of a room hold shadows: around and behind furniture, for example. I remember, as a child, peeking into an unused room in a friend’s house, both of us screaming as we egged one another on to cross the threshold and walk among the white sheeted furniture. We weren’t looking at shadows exactly, because the windows were shuttered so there was only minimal light but we were frightened by the hard to recognise shapes; familiar things seen in an unfamiliar way.

Or think of old black and white movies where a stranger (usually hatted) pursues the main character down a darkened alley, their shadow projecting onto its brick walls.

These are visible shadows. What about the things which we each carry with us which can’t be seen but which still cast a shadow? We all have things we keep hidden away in the corners of our lives; things we don’t want to bring into the light.

Yet they can still follow us around. Our personal darknesses, as attached to our feet as our physical shadows are: the shadows of personal failures, losses and regrets, broken relationships, wasted opportunities, poor physical or mental health.

Each of these shadows will have had some impact on us and the version of ourselves that we present to other people. At one moment they can seem far away, then and often without warning, they catch up with us and we realise that they’ve been alongside us all the time and that we’re still living with their consequences.

There is one shadow, though, which if we allow it to cover our lives, creates light and not darkness. That shadow is the shadow cast by Jesus’ cross. The darkness of the crucifixion resulted in the light, joy and hope bought by the Holy Spirit coming into the world.

We’re each called to carry that glorious ‘Son’ light (which never darkens) and use it to help dispel the shadows in the lives of people we meet. I don’t understand the science but apparently as light moves towards an object, the shadow it creates becomes larger. Jesus’s light works in reverse, the closer his light gets, the smaller our own and other people’s personal shadows become.

As children we may have made animal shapes on a wall which disappeared as soon as playtime ended but the shadows we cast as adults can have a much more permanent, life changing impact.

Who could you cast the shadow of Jesus onto today?