Living in the shadow

When you are living in the shadow, you may feel unseen, but that place of the hidden may be the best place to be, so let’s make the most of it.

One of my favorite plants lives in the shadows. It can live in full sunlight but does best and shows off its brilliant flowers when it’s under the darkness of larger plants.

It’s the Clivia, the Queen of the Shadows.

In the spring, when I’m walking past some tall shady trees, I often see the Clivia with its dark green leaves and bold, bright red flowers shouting out to me that it has its place and role in the garden ecosystem. Little bugs will be living in the soil under it, turning over the decay and building soil life for the Clivia and other plant life.

It’s a system, a community, and a home for everyone to enjoy.

Living in a shadow

Sometimes I feel like I live in a shadow.

Do you feel like that too?

You feel undervalued, overlooked, discarded, and second-class. Everyone else is getting the attention, and I have little value and purpose. So where is my place in the sun?

My Myers-Briggs personality type is INFJ.

I’m an introvert, which may seem strange to you, seeing as though I have a blog, Youtube channel, Facebook, Twitter, and Instagram accounts. So it would appear that I am pretty extroverted, but it’s more about where I get my energy.

I prefer alone time rather than being with others. So give me solitude to refill my cup rather than a busy mall or party.

But I have a message gained through solitude: I simply must get out into the world. The brilliant colors of the Clivia shine out from the dark contrast of the shade that speaks to the world. Alone time can shout life into the darkness of other lives.

God of the shadows and wilderness

Is God in the shadows?

Is God in the dark places, where the Clivia grows, and darkness is one’s only friend?

I think God invites me into dark places at times where I can sit and listen without the distraction of the light.

One of my favorite verses in the Bible is in Hosea.

Therefore I am now going to allure her;
I will lead her into the wilderness and speak tenderly to her. Hosea 2:14

Oh, to be allured by God. One who whispers ‘Come away with me my love’ Song of Solomon 2:10

God is in the shadows, the wilderness, the dark valley, and the tender places.

Everyone has a home, a place where they belong and sing their brilliance.

Build a fence

When I first became a pastor back in 1997, I was called to form a church within a church for people who had major and serious mental illnesses. These were people who found ‘normal’ church life difficult. Unfortunately, for many reasons, the local church did not support these people well.

As a support worker helping these people, they would often go to church meetings and not feel welcome, the service would be too loud, teaching irrelevant or too long, people rescued them, and many other factors were in play.

I was asked to create a community where these people would flourish.

I remember praying and asking God how this was to take place. We had shifted our family to a new home, and just below our house was an area of bush, but at the time, a horse was grazing our section. There were tall trees, Manuka, but underneath, nothing grew except some weedy grasses.

I looked over my neighbor’s fence to the same type of bush, but because it had been fenced off, no animals were able to graze under the canopy. As a result, bush life was alive. Small plants grew, lichen, mosses, and birds and insects flourished. All living under the shadow. They grew because a fence had been built, and nature was allowed to take over.

God was saying to me to build a fence around this group of people. To protect them and allow them to make a place of their own.

So that is what I did. I encouraged people to share their stories, be part of the band that played for our worship, lead services, and cook meals.

As they did this, they grew confident that they had something of Clivia’s beauty to share with the world.

For our end-of-year Christmas dinner, they cooked the meal and served the food rather than others who wanted to do it for them.

By the way, 20-plus years later, the bush below our house is now full, alive, and abundant in diversity.

Shining in the shadow

Be who you are; everyone else is taken.

I want to know you. I want to see the fullness of you come alive and shine.

But it will need protecting and feeding.

Acknowledging your natural Clivia beauty and purpose is the first step. To say I have something to offer to this world and living in the shadow is where I flourish.

It’s the decision not to compare oneself with others and how God has made them. It’s taking the little and seeing it millimeter by millimeter grow.

I know someone who takes incredible photos. They seem to be able to see a story and capture it on the camera. It’s the positioning of objects, the speed of the shutter, and the movement. They take photos that make you stop and notice. It is Clivia’s brilliance that you want to encourage.

As I encourage them, something comes alive to me. I invest myself in the flourishing of their gift. They feel infused with someone else’s delight. They grow in their passion for light and color. Something of God comes alive in them that cannot be overlooked or dismissed.

What is your Clivia brilliance that hides in the shadows? Perhaps as you grow in your brilliance, the depression will lift, and the anxiety will calm.

Quotes to consider

Man lives by affirmation even more than by bread. Victor Hugo Les Misérables
“What will others think?” is a symptom of a disease called “living our lives through other people’s eyes.” It’s time to get properly centred. David Riddell
The prayers offered in the state of dryness are those which please Him [God] best. C.S. Lewis screwtape letters
Keep away from people who belittle your ambitions. Small people always do that, but the really great make you feel that you, too, can become great. Mark Twain
The greatest favorites of destiny make mistakes. Our joys are composed of shadow. The supreme smile is God’s alone. Victor Hugo Les Misérables
There are two things that draw us outside of ourselves: pain on other people’s faces; and the unbelievable beauty that is other human beings at their best. Or, in other words: cross and resurrection. Richard Rohr -Job and the Mystery of Suffering
Be who you are and say what you feel, because those who mind don’t matter and those who matter don’t mind. Dr. Seuss

Questions to answer

Are you more of an Introverted person or an Extroverted person?
What is something in someone else that needs you to take notice of more and encourage it?
Is God in the shadows?