Shining a Little Light on the Monster Under the Bed

"If there is one door in the castle you have been told not to go through, you must."  Anne Lamott

The phone rang yesterday morning just as I was settling in for my first cup of tea.  It was someone begging me to think carefully about what I am doing here. He strongly warned me that people I love might get hurt.  He stopped short of asking me not to continue writing this blog; probably because he knows that would push me to write even more.

I have a tube of makeup in my drawer labeled "concealer".  It promises to cover up dark spots and blemishes.  It promises to give the illusion that I have perfect skin.  It doesn't work.  Instead, it makes me look as if I have some kind of scary disease.

We try to use concealer on more than just our skin.  We spend precious energy trying to conceal the dark and ugly parts of our lives, of ourselves.  What would happen if we threw away the concealer? Is it so terrible to be real?

It is certainly not my purpose to hurt people by honestly telling my story.  I would never intentionally hurt my children, my step-children, or my husband. There has been a lot of forgiveness and healing since my divorce. I do not have any desire to hurt even my ex-husband.

Actually, my purpose for this blog is the opposite.  It is to grab my LED flashlight and point it at that dusty place under the bed where the monsters hide. Good will come of shining light into the darkness.

Anne Lamott says, "When people shine a little light on their monster, we find out how similar most of our monsters are.  The secrecy, the obfuscation, the fact that these monsters can only be hinted at, gives us the sense that they must be very bad indeed.  But when people let their monsters out for a little onstage interview, it turns out that we've all done or thought the same things, this is our lot, our condition.  We don't end up with a brand on our forehead.  Instead, we compare notes." 

The thing is, when we shine light into the dark places we find out that we are not alone anymore.  Not only are there other people who relate to us, God is there in the light.

God is light, and in him is no darkness at all.  If we say we have fellowship with him while we walk in darkness, we lie and do not practice the truth.  But if we walk in the light, as he is in the light, we have fellowship with one another, and the blood of Jesus cleanses us from all sin.  If we say we have no sin, we deceive ourselves and the truth is not in us.  If we confess our sins, he is faithful and just to forgive us our sins and to cleanse us from all unrighteousness. 1 John 1:5-9

Confession leads to forgiveness, but it also leads to cleansing.  Maybe it is no mistake that telling the truth is sometimes called "coming clean".

It is much better to live in the light than in the dark.

I would like for this blog to become a dialog (Would that make it a dia-blog?).  Please bring your thoughts out into the light by sharing them, even if you disagree. 


"And it's wonderful to watch someone finally open that forbidden door that has kept him or her away.  What gets exposed is not people's baseness but their humanity.  It turns out that the truth, or reality, is our home. " Anne Lamott