Where Love enters, Darkness recedes
Dear esteemed Reader, beloved Friend,
In this weeks Soul-Letter I want to explore something very simple, and at the same time profoundly powerful: What happens when we begin to see love not only as a feeling, rather as an energy we consciously bring into life?
If we see love as a bright energy, and fear, anxiety, and all those related emotions as darker energies, something very interesting becomes visible.
Imagine a room that is completely dark.
You switch on even the smallest flashlight, and immediately it is no longer completely dark.
Yet you cannot stand inside a dark room, open the window, and throw the darkness outside into the light, isn't it!?
There is nothing to remove.
You simply bring in the light.
Light always dispels darkness.
The same principle reveals itself every morning.
The night may have covered an entire landscape for hours. Then the first rays appear at the horizon. Nothing has to push the darkness away. Nothing has to fight it, argue with it, or convince it to leave.
Light appears.
And darkness recedes.
Perhaps this is one of the simplest ways to look at the relationship between love and fear.
Fear contracts. Love opens.
Fear separates. Love connects.
Fear makes us protect, anticipate, judge, and withdraw. Love creates space. It softens. It warms. It allows us to meet life differently.
And there is something important here:
We do not need to make fear our enemy.
When fear arises, we can notice it. We can feel it. We can listen to what it is revealing. Then, instead of giving it more of our attention and life-force, we can consciously bring something else into that space.
Presence.
Warmth.
Compassion.
Love.
"The light shines in the darkness, and the darkness has not overcome it."
In the same way, love dispels what is dark.
The light transforms the darkness simply through its presence.
This means transformation does not always require a battle.
We often believe we first need to get rid of anger, fear, resentment, anxiety, or judgment before we can experience peace.
Perhaps the movement can happen from another direction.
Instead of asking:
How do I remove this fear?
We can ask:
What can I bring into this moment?
Can I bring a little more compassion?
Can I bring patience?
Can I bring a softer word?
Can I bring presence instead of reaction?
Can I bring warmth where I would normally withdraw?
Can I bring love where fear has been speaking?
Even a small shift changes the inner atmosphere.
And our inner atmosphere travels with us.
It enters our conversations. Our homes. Our relationships. The way we look at another human being. The way we respond when something does not go according to plan. The way we meet ourselves when we are tired, hurting, uncertain, or afraid.
"When the day dawns from heaven, night flees away. What then can its darkness know of the nature of light?"
Once we begin to see this as energy – energy that can influence our own well-being and the well-being of the world around us – we may also begin to recognize how much power lies in seemingly small moments.
A loving message.
A hand placed gently on someone's shoulder.
Choosing not to answer immediately when we feel triggered.
Looking into another person's eyes and truly being there.
Offering kindness where judgment would have been easier.
Speaking to ourselves with the same tenderness we would offer someone we deeply love.
None of these gestures may appear extraordinary.
Energetically, they are anything except small.
They introduce light.
And perhaps this is where spiritual practice becomes very practical.
We do not have to wait until we have transcended every fear or healed every wound before we become a source of love.
We practice now.
Every day, bring a little more of that light, that warmth, and that loving energy into our own lives and into the lives of the people around us.
Choose one moment each day where you would normally react from fear, impatience, irritation, or protection.
Pause.
Feel what is present.
Then ask yourself:
What would bringing light into this moment look like?
It may be silence.
It may be a kind word.
It may be forgiveness.
It may be walking away peacefully.
It may be placing your hand over your heart and simply staying present with yourself.
You do not need to illuminate the whole world today.
Bring light to the space directly in front of you.
Then another.
And another.
This is how love becomes more than something we feel.
It becomes something we live.
A Prayer
Great Spirit,
may I remember the light that already lives within me.
When fear arises, help me meet it with presence.
When another person is hurting, let me bring warmth rather than judgment.
When darkness appears within me, let me remember that I do not need to fight it.
May I simply bring light.
May my words carry kindness,
my actions carry compassion,
and my presence remind others of the love that lives within them too.May I add a little more warmth to this world today.
And may that light travel farther than I will ever know.
All-ways.
In Presence,
Bear Saorin
The One Mind Sanctum
P.S. You may never know how far one small act of love travels. Shine anyway.
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